


Refugee

by RainbowRose160



Category: Star Fox Series
Genre: Action & Romance, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Hurt/Comfort, I know it's a weird ship but just roll with it, M/M, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-20
Updated: 2021-02-27
Packaged: 2021-03-10 07:29:41
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 7
Words: 30,990
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27639578
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RainbowRose160/pseuds/RainbowRose160
Summary: Andrew Oikonny had always viewed his uncle as a brilliant man, but when the young ape learns of Andross's true nature and all of the insidious experiments he's done, his uncle labels him a traitor and attempts to make him his latest specimen. Left with no other choice, Andrew is forced to flee seek help from his enemies, Star Fox and Corneria.Reunited with an old acquaintance, Andrew becomes a refugee aboard the Great Fox. Confused and betrayed, he seeks comfort in the most unlikely of places, learns of the truth that contradicts years of propaganda and lies, and falls in love with one of his most bitter enemies.
Relationships: Fox McCloud/Andrew Oikonny
Comments: 8
Kudos: 18





	1. Prologue

_This can’t be happening. This can’t be happening. Oh God, please, tell me this isn’t real!_

Andrew’s thoughts raced as he dashed through the facility, alarms blaring. He could hear the footsteps of his comrades turned enemies behind him as his uncle’s voice blared over the intercom.

“Andrew Oikonny is a traitor to Venom. He has stolen valuable experiments. Capture him at all costs.”

The message repeated again and again, spouting the same lie.

_Why? Why me? How could this happen!?_

Andrew fought back tears as he jumped into an air duct, his small slim frame allowing him to crawl through. He waited for a moment as the group of soldiers ran past the duct, confirming that no one saw him enter. He took a deep breath and steeled himself. He could cry later. For now, he just needed to escape. He silently but quickly crawled through the air duct, slowing down when he heard a voice or footsteps. He recalled the layout of the facility well, so he made his way through and crawled out another vent. He dropped into a lounge area, a small room with tables and an empty bar.

“Andrew?” A deep voice said behind him. Andrew whipped around and aimed his pistol at the source. It was Wolf O’Donnell, his leader. Or former leader, in his case. “Hey, hey,” Wolf said, holding his hands up. “Chill. I’m not going to capture you. I just want you to tell me what the hell is going on. What did you do?”

“I can’t talk,” Andrew tightened his grip on the gun. “I need my Wolfen. Are there any tracking devices installed? Tell me!” He said frantically. He knew Wolf could tell he was terrified and in his state it would be easy for the canine to take him down, but for some reason he made no attempt to attack. 

“No. Any bugs we had, I got removed. Do you really think that I’d let Andross breathe down my neck like that? Your Wolfen’s clean.” Wolf said. Andrew started to make his way to the door, but Wolf stopped him. “Hold on. Andrew, just tell me what’s going on. Let me help you.” Wolf said.

Andrew hesitated, then spoke. “Andross is a madman, Wolf. I saw it all. Those sick experiments…He’s used people. And he wants to use me next. I’m not going to become one of those abominations!” His voice was shaky and his hands started to tremble at the thought of what his uncle would do to him.

Wolf’s eye went wide, then closed for a second. He opened it again with a surprisingly gentle look, especially for Wolf. “Listen to me and listen good.” He said, his voice low and serious. “You’re right, you need to get out, but you need to crash your ship and blow it up, you hear me?” When Andrew nodded, Wolf continued. “Andross needs to think you’re dead. After you fake it, run like hell. I know how you feel about them, but you need to find Star Fox. Cornerian forces may shoot you on sight, so just start by finding Star Fox and asking them for Sanctuary. It’s a Cornerian war law that states a refugee that defected from an opposing side can request sanctuary. You’ll get put under protective custody for a while, but you’ll be safe.”

Andrew nodded and ran for the door, but stopped, his hand hovering over the control panel. “…Why are you helping me, Wolf?” He asked. He had to know. Wolf was always such a damn enigma to him. He never once helped him fly or fight, so why was he helping him escape?

“I have my reasons.” Wolf simply stated. “Now go!”

Andrew nodded and bolted out the door, avoiding the sight of guards and other mercenaries. He found another air vent and crept inside, making his way to the hangar. He carefully crawled out of the vent and hid behind a stack of crates, holding his gun ready. He surveyed the large hangar, and found his Wolfen. Always the second from the left. There was a single guard in front of his own, but there didn’t seem to be any more than that. They were probably all looking for him inside. Andrew took a deep breath and aimed at the guard, the lizard’s back turned. His aim was shaky, and he tried to calm himself, but it was no use. He couldn’t possibly get a shot in this state. He looked for another option.

 _I could try to sneak around him,_ he thought. But there was nowhere for him to hide if the guard turned around.  
_Try to steal another ship?_ A possibility, but the Wolfen was the only thing Andrew could fly decently.  
_Maybe sneak up and break his neck?_ No, he was too weak for that. He’d tried before, but never succeeded.  
_A distraction, then?_ Hm, that could work. Yeah. Distract him, then kill him.

Andrew looked around and grabbed a wrench. He stood above the crates and threw it as far as he could, managing to toss it behind another stack of crates. He hid again when the wrench landed, catching the guard’s attention. Andrew waited, holding his breath as the lizard’s footsteps grew closer. Closer. Closer. He was right behind the monkey’s hiding spot now. Now or never.

 _Do it, Andrew. For once in your pathetic life, grow a fucking pair and shoot him!_ Andrew took a deep breath and jumped out from his hiding spot, shooting the guard without hesitation. The lizard’s body fell over, a chunk of his head missing and sizzling from the plasma. Andrew halted for a moment, staring at what he’d done. A former comrade, dead because of him.

He shook his head. _No time to worry about that. Just run. Run, run, run!_

Andrew turned around and made a mad dash for his ship, climbing in and hastily hitting the controls. The ship roared to life, and he knew he only had a few seconds before someone figured out he’d reached the Wolfen. He activated the launch thrusters, lifting the ship off the ground and ready to take off. There was a single moment of hesitation. He was about to leave everything behind. Every friend, comrade, family. Everything he’d worked for. Everything he’d tried so hard to achieve. Did he really have the guts?  
Andrew shut his eyes. _No,_ he told himself, _d_ _on’t stop now. You won’t just die if you stay. You’ll become one of those…things._  
The snow monkey steeled himself and fired up the thrusters, the ship flying out of the hanger and into the Venomian sky.

To make sure he won’t be followed, he dropped every bomb he had on the hangar, blowing the thing to hell and back. The explosions set off all the other bombs the other ships were carrying, completely obliterating the hangar. After making sure no one could get their ships out, he took off toward the sky. When he finally broke the atmosphere and was met with the vastness of space, his mind began to race as he thought of his next move.

Wolf had told him to find Star Fox, but was he really about to do that? Go to the enemy they fought so bitterly against and beg them for help? _No,_ he thought, _there has to be another way._

He could find some seedy place to lay low. _No, Andross has the entire Lylat underground under his thumb. He’d find me without even trying._  
Perhaps he could fake his death like Wolf said and disguise himself, living under a different name. _And then what? I’d be recognized anyway, all of Lylat knows my face._  
He could find his aunt. Laura was a tough gal, she’d protect him, right? _No. Absolutely not. I’m not dragging her into this._  
He could just kill himself and end all of this. _But I don’t want to die._

  
“ _Dammit_!”  
Andrew let out a frustrated yell, knowing he had no other option than to go to his enemy. He remembered hearing that Fox McCloud was on a security detail on the planet Fortuna. If there was any member of Star Fox he could tolerate, it’d be Fox. The same man he’d shared a room with back at flight academy. The same man that had shot him down on multiple occasions. With only a moment of hesitation, he entered the coordinates, initiated the warp drive, and took one final look at Venom before it was gone.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tried to work with two perspectives on this one. Still not that good at bouncing back and forth, so I at least hope the story is understandable and enjoyable. This one was super fun to write, so I really hope you enjoy it!

“Anything to report, McCloud?” A gruff voice said through the vulpine’s earpiece.

“Nothing, sir. Skies are clear so far.” Fox replied.

“Good. Keep it up.”

Fox sighed and leaned back. He’d been patrolling the area for about three hours now. It was a good paying assignment, if a little boring. He didn’t want to complain, but he’d been flying around in circles for what felt like forever. Fortuna was a beautiful planet, but the mountains and fields lost their luster after the first hour and a half. He tried to spice it up by doing some tricks at the second hour mark, but the general who hired him shut that down real quick. Apparently he hated fun, Fox thought. He almost fell asleep before his communicator beeped.

“INCOMING MESSAGE FOR FOX MCCLOUD.” Fox heard the familiar robotic voice of ROB 64 talking to him through the comm.

A message?

“From who?” Fox asked, sitting up.

“UNKNOWN.”

“Where’s it coming from?”

“UNKNOWN.”

Fox sighed. Well, he wanted something interesting. “Alright, ROB. Play it.”

“AFFIRMATIVE. PLAYING MESSAGE.”

 _“Hey, pup.”_ Fox’s fur stood on end when he heard the voice of his bitter rival, Wolf O’Donnell. Why in the world was Wolf sending Fox a message?

 _“I know I’m the last person you wanna hear from, but listen. Shit’s gone sideways here. Apparently, Andrew screwed up_ real _bad.”_

“Andross’s nephew?” Fox thought out loud. 

_“Andross has got all of Venom after him. He managed to escape, but Andross is trying to get his troops to hunt him down. He’s got something worse than death planned for him.”_

“The hell?” Fox listened closer, turning the volume up. What the hell was going on? Worse than death?

_“I told him to come find you. Told him to ask for sanctuary. So don’t shoot him.”_

Fox narrowed his eyes. Did Wolf seriously think Fox was going to just let Andrew waltz in and take advantage of some old war law? He could be lying, for all he knew.

_“Look, I know you’re probably thinking this is some scheme to get Andrew in as a spy or something.”_

“Hmph, is Wolf a mind reader now?” Fox muttered to himself. Something was nagging at the back of his mind, though. Something telling him to believe Wolf.

_“J-Just give him a chance. He’s just a kid, for god’s sake. Can’t even drink yet. Everyone here’s calling him a traitor to Venom, even my crew. Everyone he knows has just turned against him, so I don’t give two shits if you grant him sanctuary or just lock him up. He don’t deserve what Andross is going to do to him. Hell, he never should have been in this war to begin with.”_

Fox was silent. He’d never heard Wolf speak like that. The concern in his voice was genuine. It was like there was a crack in Lord O’Donnell’s mask and the real Wolf, desperate to save someone he cared about, bled through. Was this really the same Wolf that always tried to kill him?

_“I’m risking my tail sending you this message. Don’t you dare let it go to waste, or I’ll kill you next time we meet.”_

“END OF MESSAGE.” ROB 64 said.

Fox sat in silence for what felt like ages. He processed the message, going over it in his mind again and again. So, Andrew did something wrong, his uncle went nuts and sent troops to find him, and now he’s coming to claim sanctuary? Fox had so many questions. What did Andrew do? Was that ape really turning traitor, or was he just scrambling for somewhere to hide? And why did Wolf care so much about the brat? Was it just him caring for his a member of his team, or was there something more to it?

_beep beep_

Fox looked down at his radar, the sound pulling him from his thoughts. An unknown ship had entered the area, and was trying to reach out to Fox. Could that be…?

Fox opened the frequency. “This is Fox McCloud. Identify yourself.”

_-kkzzzzttt-_

“Hello?”

_-kkzzzzttt-_

Whoever was trying to contact Fox had their communicator fried. The static came whenever Fox spoke, so whoever it was, they could hear him but he couldn’t hear them. “There’s something wrong with your comm, I can only hear static. Maintain position.”

_-kkzztt- -kkzztt- -kkzztt- -kkzzzzttt- -kkzzzzttt- -kkzzzzttt- -kkzztt- -kkzztt- -kkzztt-_

The static started coming in sequence. Fox immediately recognized it as morse code.

_-kkzztt- -kkzztt- -kkzztt- -kkzzzzttt- -kkzzzzttt- -kkzzzzttt- -kkzztt- -kkzztt- -kkzztt-_

Short, short, short. Long, long, long. Short, short, short.

_SOS._

“Message received.” Fox said. “Keep going.” The static began coming in again. Fox knew morse code well enough to know each letter as it came.

_-kkzzzzttt- -kkzztt- -kkzzzzttt- -kkzztt-_

C.

_-kkzztt- -kkzzzzttt- -kkzztt-_

R.

_-kkzztt- -kkzzzzttt-_

A.

_-kkzztt- -kkzztt- -kkzztt-_

S.

_-kkzztt- -kkzztt- -kkzztt- -kkzztt-_

H.

_-kkzztt- -kkzztt-_

I.

_-kkzzzzttt- -kkzztt-_

N.

_-kkzzzzttt- -kkzzzzttt- -kkzztt-_

G.

Crashing. Whoever was contacting him was crashing. “Listen, you’re already in atmosphere, so if you’re going to crash, it’s safe to eject. I’ll find you.” Fox said. The static came quicker this time, so quick Fox could barely keep up. “Whoa, slow down, I can’t keep up with that. Are you crashing right now?” He asked, trying to stay calm.

_-kkzzzzttt- -kkzztt-_

N.

That meant no. So he had time. “Okay, just answer my questions and we’ll get through fine, okay? Now just do a short for yes and long for no.” Fox said. “Is your ship damaged?”

_-kkzztt-_

Yes. “Is that the reason you’re crashing?”

_-kkzzzzttt-_

No. “Are you being chased?”

_-kkzztt-_

Yes. “Venomian fighters?”

_-kkzztt-_

Yes. “Okay. Just stay calm, alright? I’ll see if I can take care of-” He was interrupted by another series of static bursts. It took him a few seconds to realize it was two words repeated again and again. “Fake” and “Death”.

He was faking his death? Well, that’s one way to get someone off your tail. “Okay, okay, message received. So what do you want me to do?”

_-kkzztt- -kkzztt- -kkzzzzttt- -kkzztt- -kkzztt- -kkzztt- -kkzzzzttt- -kkzztt- -kkzzzzttt- -kkzztt- -kkzztt- -kkzzzzttt- -kkzzzzttt- -kkzztt-_

FIND ME.

“Find you? After you land?”

_-kkzztt-_

Yes. “Okay. There’s an area with plenty of trees to hide in on these coordinates.” Fox typed in the numbers and sent them to the ship. “Crash there and hide. I’ll land nearby and come for you. Don’t stray too far from your ship.” Fox said. He turned the ship around and activating his boosters, flying toward the coordinates he’d sent to retrieve whoever this was. Though he had a feeling he already knew who it was.

——————

Andrew thanked the stars, fate, God, or whatever was up there looking out for him that Fox understood morse code. He flew to the coordinates and saw a long stretch of grassy plains leading to a forest at the foot of a mountain. Perfect. He checked the position of the Venomian fighters. They were far enough away to see the explosion, but they definitely wouldn’t see Andrew eject or flee to the forest.

He took a deep breath and readied himself. He had to get this right. He had to crash the ship so that it exploded on impact, just crash landing isn’t enough. He just had to eject before impact, but even then…If he ejected too early, the Wolfen would send out a distress signal to the other Wolfens. If he ejected too late…Well, he didn’t want to think about that. He had to get this just right. Even a split second too early would ruin the plan.

Of course, even if he did get it right, it was still left up to sheer luck whether or not he’d even survive the landing. He had not parachute, that’d leave evidence that he was alive. He just had to hope that he’d end up with scratches and bruises instead of a broken neck.

He closed his eyes and sent another morse code signal to Fox. “THANK YOU”, it said. He aimed his ship toward the ground and hit the boosters.

 _Wait for it._ He was getting closer to the ground.  
_Not yet._ His finger hovered over the eject button, his other hand keeping the ship steady.  
_Not yet._ He could feel the sweat running down his face. He could see the individual blades of grass now, but he just needed to wait a little more.  
_Almost._ The nose of the Wolfen was mere seconds from touching the ground.  
_NOW!_ Just as the nose was a second away from impact, Andrew slammed the eject button, launching himself out of the ship just as it touched down. He felt the heat and the shock wave of the explosion behind him, having narrowly escaped being burned alive. He braced himself before landing on the ground, the momentum carrying him to the forest where he slammed against a tree, knocking him out.

——————

Fox carefully maneuvered his ship into the Fortunan forest, the trees hiding his ship from sight. As the cockpit opened, he heard a loud explosion nearby. The mystery ship had just crash landed. Fox leapt out of the Arwing and saw the smoke rising over the trees. He began running toward the crash site to make sure the pilot was alive.

As he made his way through the dense forest, he heard the roar of fighter ships. He gazed through the trees and saw a trio of Venomian fighters flying toward the crash site. He quickly took cover in the shade, making sure that none of the Venomian soldiers saw him. He heard them land ahead of him. _Shit,_ he thought to himself, _gotta move in before they find him._

Fox quickly made his way through the thick brush, the branches and limbs scratching at his fur. He stepped out of the thick bushes just in time to see the Venomians exiting their vessels. He quickly hid behind a nearby tree before he could be spotted. He peeked from behind the tree and saw the burning remains of a Wolfen, confirming his suspicion that the mystery pilot was definitely Andrew. Just like Wolf told him.

“Search the wreckage. Find the little brat.” A dark furred ape, seemingly the commander of the trio, spoke with authority. The other two, a dark green lizard and a white lemur, approach the crashed Wolfen with guns ready. Fox slowly and quietly pulled out his own blaster, ready to shoot if they found Andrew. He still didn’t fully trust the ape, but if what Wolf said was true…He couldn’t just leave him.

The two soldiers searched around the Wolfen, unable to approach due to the roaring flames. “Is he in there?” The commander called.

“Can’t tell.” The lemur called back in a grating voice. “Fire’s too thick.”

“If he is in there, he’s deader than dead.” The lizard’s hoarse voice chimed. “Let’s just go, there ain’t no way that little shit could survive that.”

“No. Andross asked for a body, alive or dead.” The commander said. “Preferably alive.”

Fox pondered that for a moment. So far everything was lining up with what Wolf told him.

“Never knew the boss was so sentimental.” The lemur said.

“The little prick was his nephew. How would you feel if that niece o’ yours got killed?”

“I’d piss on her grave.”

“Enough.” The commander growled. “Search the forest. If he’s alive, he can’t have gone far.”

Shit. Fox had to think of something fast. If they searched the forest, not only would they likely find Andrew, they would find him as well. He acted on instinct and leapt out from his hiding place, firing at the soldiers.

The lemur went down from a shot to the head, while the lizard took a beam in his arm and immediately returned fire. Fox rolled behind another tree and fired back, taking cover whenever a plasma beam headed his way.

“It’s Fox McCloud! Kill him!” The commander shouted, pulling his own blaster and firing at Fox. The vulpine took cover again and quickly thought up his next course of action.

Fox readied himself and dashed toward the next tree to his left, firing at the soldiers. He could feel one of the plasma beams singe the fur on his tail and another narrowly miss his ear, but he managed to hit the lizard with a fatal blast to the chest and severely burned the commander’s face. The ape yelled out in pain and began to retreat. Fox hid behind cover as the monkey fired relentlessly at him. When the shooting stopped, Fox got ready to fire again, but saw the ape already entering his ship.

“I won’t forget this, you runt!” He yelled before quickly taking off, running away like the cowardly monkey he was.

Fox let out a deep breath of relief and holstered his blaster again. Now to find Andrew.

——————

The first thing Andrew felt when he regained consciousness was the excruciating pain in his chest. He hissed in pain, but that only made it worse. He tried to reach up and feel to see if he got hit by shrapnel or something, only causing his arm to explode in pain as well. He opened his eyes, looking around. He was still on Fortuna. He could hear the flames from the burning wreckage of his Wolfen nearby, so he wasn’t knocked out long. He tried to think of what he needed to do next, but the pain was so severe he could barely focus. All he could do was try to breathe slowly and gently so his chest didn’t hurt as badly, though it still made him want to cry.

“Is anyone here? Hello? The Venomian troops are gone, you can come out now.”

His eyes widened when he heard the familiar voice. Fox was nearby, looking for the person who contacted him. Andrew took a deep breath, wincing at the pain, then cried out. “I’m over here! Help me!” The effort it took to shout hurt even more, making the ape clench his teeth.

Fox heard Andrew and came running, stopping when he saw the snow monkey. “Oh my god.”

Andrew looked up at his former enemy and pleaded, “F-Fox, please…” His voice was strained from the pain. “Help me…” All of the pride he always hid behind was gone. He couldn’t muster up any of the guts to act all high and mighty now. All he could do was beg.

Fox stood there, hesitating. That hesitation quickly faded when he saw the tears in Andrew’s eyes, the desperation and fear. He stepped forward and crouched next to Andrew. The ape tried to sit up, only to wince in pain. “Stay down. You’ve probably got some broken bones.” Fox said. He pushed a button on his earpiece. “Base, come in. This is Fox McCloud.”

Andrew heeded Fox’s words and stayed as still as he could. He listened as Fox spoke to what must have been a Cornerian general.

“Actually, sir, I do have a report. I need a medic to my position ASAP.” Fox said. “No, not for me, sir. Andrew Oikonny is here.”

Andrew remembered what Wolf told him to do. “F-Fox…!” He said suddenly, followed by a sharp inhale of pain. “S-sanctuary! I need s-sanctuary!”

Fox looked at him for a moment, then nodded. Fox still didn’t trust him, but a law is a law. Wolf’s message was still fresh in his mind as well, though he was still debating whether or not to believe it. He turned to the side again, still keeping Andrew in the corner of his eye. “No, sir, he’s not hostile. If anything, he’s completely incapacitated. His arm is badly broken and he’s bleeding from the head. Possible broken rib, too.”

Huh? Andrew lifted his good arm and touched his head, feeling a sting as he drew it back and saw his own blood. He didn’t even realize he was bleeding.

“He’s asking for sanctuary. Yeah, I’m serious.” Fox continued. “No, there were other Venomian ships, but they were hunting him. I took out two of them, but one of them got away. His ship? Totaled. He crashed it to try and fake his death to get away.” Fox got fed up with the general and raised his voice. “Sir, just send the medic, I have just as many questions as you do, but we can’t just ignore him!”

Fox let out an exasperated sigh and turned back to Andrew. “You’ve got a lot of explaining to do, you know.”

Andrew looked away, his gaze locking on his burning ship. The Wolfen that had gotten him through so much was destroyed. Even though he made it out, it still felt like a part of him was burning inside the wreckage. He saw himself, the self he’d imagined he’d be after the war, the new emperor of Venom. That emperor was screaming his lungs out as he burned to death. All of his dreams. His ambitions. His pride. All burned away like they were nothing. The tears that had been building in his eyes escaped, running down his face like a river of regrets. A single sob escaped him, causing another wave of pain in his ribs. He wanted to shut his eyes, block the tears and shove away his emotions, but he couldn’t do it. All he could do was let the tears flow as more sobs came, unable to pry his gaze away from his future dying before his eyes.

Fox’s ears lowered as he rubbed his neck. He couldn’t help but feel bad for the guy. Wolf was right, Andrew was just a kid. Barely even 20, if their intel was correct. He’d seen the war reduce rookies to tears before, mostly due to shell shock, but even then they were all older than Andrew. Fox couldn’t help but wonder what happened on Venom that caused him to be reduced to this. He remembered how Andrew acted during their battles, always talking big with no skill to back it up. Even all the way back in flight academy, when they shared a dorm, Andrew was always boastful and arrogant. Every now and again, something bled through, though. A chip in the mask, hiding away the face Fox never saw until now. Now Fox stood there, watching the boy cry, a single question rising in his mind as he heard the medical planes draw near.

Who was the real Andrew Oikonny?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know the last chapter was titled "Prologue" but I don't think I'll be naming any other chapters. If I do decide to name each chapter, I'll definitely update them all but as for now, only the prologue and eventual epilogues will be titled.


	3. Chapter 3

“Well, I can say this for sure. You’re lucky to be alive, young man.” The doctor, an old beagle, spoke while looking over his clipboard. “You ejected from your ship barely a second from impact, and only came out with some broken bones and minor injuries.” He started going over the list of the monkey’s injuries. “Severely broken arm, three cracked ribs, shrapnel wound on the head barely missing the skull, multiple bruises on legs, arms, and torso, and minor cuts along the back from shrapnel.” The doctor looked up at the monkey, who was all bandaged up.

Andrew didn’t look at the doctor, opting instead to take in the details of the plant in the corner. “Sorry to disappoint.” He muttered. Despite having come all this way for sanctuary, his hatred for Corneria was still strong.

“You’d only be disappointing me if you died after McCloud found you. After all that you did with the morse code, and how precise you had to be ejecting…It’d be a waste. Hell, if anything, I’m impressed.” The doctor said.

“Don’t patronize me.”

The doctor let out a good-natured chuckle, which Andrew didn’t return. The doctor looked up at the scowling ape. “Well, that attitude tells me the pain medication worked like a charm.”

“Still hurts like hell.” Andrew glanced at the medication he had to take. It took a lot of convincing for the ape to take pills from his enemies— _former_ enemies, Andrew was not getting used to that anytime soon—but he eventually just took them when the pain become too much to handle. The pain was still there now, but more muted.

“It will be hurting for a good month or two before you heal. That’s why they’re going to keep you here before you’re sent to a refugee camp.” The doctor said, checking his notes again. “You won’t be restrained as long as you don’t try anything, though your room will be locked.” His voice sounded rehearsed and bored as he read the notes. “You’ll be fed, of course. Breakfast, lunch, and dinner, with some snacks in between to aid your recovery, blah blah blah.” He heard the ape start snickering at his tone, a reaction he was going for. “I’m sure you’re a smart lad, so I’ll get some copies of all your rights and the rules and whatnot.” The beagle said with a smile. He checked his notes again. “Hm, but later today you’ll be taken in for questioning, basically just asking what happened, your reason for claiming sanctuary, all of that. I’ll get you an extra dose of pain medication, since they really should have waited until you recovered a bit more.” He sighed. “Oh, well. Can’t be helped.”

Andrew scowled at the thought of being interrogated. _Questioning, huh._ He thought to himself. _That’s a fancy way of putting it_. He began wondering just how they were going to try to intimidate him, what questions they would ask, and how much they would believe he didn’t know. All he knew for sure at the moment was that his uncle was a psychopath, and even then some stubborn part of him wanted to deny it. But he knew what he saw. And what he saw, he would never forget…

“You know, if you keep that up, your face will get stuck like that.” A familiar voice interrupted his thoughts. Andrew looked up to see Fox, his arms folded and leaning against the doorway. He didn’t even hear the door open.

“Is it that time already? McCloud, at least let me administer some more pain medication, he’s in no condition to-” The doctor began, but Fox held up a hand to stop him.

“Don’t worry, I just came to talk. Can I have a minute?”

The doctor reluctantly nodded and stood up. “Very well. I need to check his tests anyway. Oikonny, is it?” The doctor turned to Andrew.

For some reason, the name he used to have such pride in made his skin crawl. “Just Andrew.” He replied.

“Andrew, then. If you need anything, just push the button to your left to call the nurse.” He said before walking out of the room, the door auto-locking behind him.

After the doctor left, the two mercenaries were left in awkward silence. Andrew was the first to speak up. “So, you wanted to talk?”

Fox nodded and stepped forward, taking a seat in the chair beside the bed. Andrew noticed the blaster on his hip, making it clear he wasn’t trusted. Fox opened his mouth to speak, but closed it again. He fiddled with his hands a bit, then let out a sigh and looked right at Andrew. “You’re in deep shit, you know that?” He said, clearly trying his best to sound tough.

“You sound like Wolf.” Andrew scoffed.

“I’m serious, Andrew. Do you have any idea how on edge everyone’s been since we found you? If you make any sudden moves around anyone, you’re going to get shot.” Fox said sternly.

_Is he trying to warn me or intimidate me?_ Andrew thought to himself. “Does that include you?” He replied, pointing at the holstered gun. Fox went silent. He took that as a yes. “Is that really all you had to say?”

Fox shook his head. “No, not quite. I wanted to ask you something.”

“Can’t you save it for the interrogation?”

Fox’s brow furrowed. “Interrogation? Who said you were being interrogated?”

“Isn’t that what _questioning_ is?” Andrew asked.

“What? No. Questioning just means we’re going to ask you some questions to figure out where to put you. Andrew, you’re not a prisoner.” Fox said. “You’re a refugee. This questioning session is the same kind we give all the other refugees.”

“ _Sure_ it is.”

Fox sighed. “Just listen. I wanted to ask you about what’s going on. I received a message from Wolf shortly before you contacted me.”

Andrew looked up. “Wolf?”

Fox nodded. “Yeah. He gave me a heads up that you’d be asking for sanctuary, but I still don’t know what happened. What did you do?”

Andrew was silent. He looked down at the white bedsheets. “…Andross betrayed me.”

“He betrayed you? Your own uncle? The one you were completely loyal to?” Fox said, obviously not convinced.

“The feeling wasn’t mutual, apparently.” Andrew muttered. The young mercenary looked over at Fox. “Can we please just save this for the interro-oh, I’m sorry, _questioning_?”

Fox sighed. “Alright, we’ll save it.” He got up to leave, but before opened the door, he turned back to Andrew. He opened his mouth to speak, but just turned around and left.

Andrew looked back at the bedsheets and shut his eyes tight. His mind crept back to the memory of the horrid experiments his uncle was conducting. The sickening memory nearly made him vomit. He did his best to focus on something, anything else. Another memory, one less gruesome.

He thought back to his academy days, back before the war. Had it really only been two years? Two years since all Andrew cared about was studying to be a pilot just like his childhood hero. He failed almost every practical test, but passed every written test with flying colors. It was a miracle he even got his flying license. Things seemed so simple back then. He had homework to keep him busy, a big ego to flaunt how he pleased, parties every other week…And then there was Fox.

Andrew leaned back in the bed, wincing a bit at the pain in his ribs. He thought back to Fox in their academy days. He was a typical goody-two-shoes popular type. Being the son of one of the most badass mercenaries around really helped his reputation. Not to mention, his almost perfect grades. He shared a dorm room with Andrew, and always seemed to finish his homework ages before him. Andrew smiled when he thought back on what a bad influence he must’ve been on Fox. Andrew convinced him to sneak out past curfew and visit the nearby city for food and fun, did a little bit of cheating on his homework when he was stuck, and even got Fox to try beer for the first time…after which Fox swore off alcohol because he hated the taste and feeling of getting drunk. Andrew softly chuckled at that memory, not even caring about the pain that action caused.

Andrew wasn’t just a bad influence of Fox, however. Fox was a bit of a good influence on Andrew. Somehow the vulpine always talked him into helping clean the dorm, gave him hints here and there when he was stuck on homework, and even helped tutor him on the flight simulator.

…The flight simulator. Now that was a memory that still caused Andrew to have confused feelings. Andrew shook his head and pushed that one back. Instead, he just lost himself in the good memories of sneaking out and having fun.

——————

The “questioning” room felt a lot like an interrogation room. Solid gray walls and floor, a single plastic table with three chairs, a guard at the door, and a mirror that was very obviously two-way. Andrew had been seated across from General Pepper and General Brutus. General Brutus, a broad-shouldered husky, was the man in charge of this particular base, and he looked meaner than any of Venom’s generals. While most of them were just an assortment of assholes and cruel vermin, this man had an aura of pure authority. Even being in the same room as him made Andrew tense. General Pepper, on the other hand, had a more calm and fatherly air to him, though radiating the same amount of authority.

Andrew had been brought to the questioning room after being given another dose of pain medicine, and ever since the three sat in awkward silence. Well, awkward for Andrew, anyway. The two generals were just waiting.

“Is he always this late?” Brutus asked in a low, gravelly voice.

“He’ll be here soon, Brutus.” Pepper replied.

“Uhh, who’ll be here soon?” The monkey asked, earning a glance from Pepper and a mean glare from Brutus.

“None of your damn-”

“Brutus, please.” Pepper interrupted him sternly and turned back to Andrew. “Fox McCloud. He’s the one who found you, and the witness to your sanctuary request. So he’ll be a witness here as well. It’s just a formality.”

“Uh-huh…” Andrew looked behind him at the armed guard standing at the door. “And is he a witness too?”

“He’s just here in case you try anything.” Brutus said, crossing his arms.

“Well, that’s comforting. Really giving me the luxury treatment, aren’t you?” Andrew said rudely.

“You better watch your mouth you little-”

“Brutus, enough.” Pepper interrupted him again. “Oikonny, you understa-”

“Andrew.”

“Pardon?”

“Just Andrew, please. Don’t call me Oikonny.”

“You’re on thin ice, kid.” Brutus growled. “You better start showing some respect.”

“Bite me.”

“What was that!?”

“Enough!” Pepper shouted, making both men flinch. Pepper seemed like a kind old man, but his shout demanded attention. “Now,” he continued, quieting and calming his voice. “Andrew. You understand that necessary precautions must be taken. Armed guards are one of those precautions.”

“Right. After all, you don’t want the defenseless little chimp to hurt anyone.” Andrew sarcastically said, using a slur that was often hurled at him by Cornerian dogs. Pepper cleared his throat and shut his mouth after that. Even Brutus didn’t speak up, just glared at the ape.

A few seconds of tense silence passed before the door behind Andrew opened. The monkey turned to see Fox walking in, making his way to the left of the table and leaning against the wall. “You’re late, McCloud.” Brutus grunted.

“I’m sorry, sir. Peppy had some back problems. I tried to tell him to leave the boxes to the soldiers but he just wanted to help.” Fox shrugged. Pepper let out a good natured laugh, which eased up the tense atmosphere.

“Well, now that we’re all here, we can begin.” Pepper said. He picked up a clipboard and pen and put on a pair of reading glasses. “So, you’ve come to us requesting sanctuary. If you just answer these questions honestly we can be done with this and you’ll be in a safe refugee camp in no time.” Pepper cleared his throat and read the first question. “What is your reason for requesting sanctuary?”

“No other choice.” Andrew replied.

Pepper wrote his answer down. “And your reason for defecting?”

“Andross betrayed me.”

“Betrayed you? How so?”

Andrew went silent. He looked down and thought for a moment. He didn’t want to relive what he saw, but if he lied they’d see right through him. Then again, they may not even believe him if he told them the truth. He glanced up at Fox, though he didn’t know what he expected. Even so, the slight nod that Fox gave him was enough for Andrew to make up his mind. He looked back at Pepper and took a deep breath. “I…found his experiments.”

Pepper’s brow furrowed and he leaned closer, interested. “Experiments? So he’s still developing bioweapons?”

Andrew shook his head. “Not just them. I knew he’d been experimenting with animals and bugs to create them, but…I always thought that was the worst of it. That all his other research was working toward new energy sources or development of land on Venom. But I found one of his underground labs, and…” Andrew’s face contorted in disgust as he remembered the sight. “I saw the chimeras.”

A deep silence fell over the room, broken only by a single question from Pepper. “Chimeras?”

Andrew nodded. “I…I’d rather not go into detail. But…He didn’t just use animals and bugs.” The ape was already trying not to vomit from the mere memory of the hideous crimes against nature, but he continued on. “…He’s used people. Lizards, pigs, dogs, even apes. He turned them into these… _things_.”

“Dear god…” Brutus said. “That madman is experimenting with people now?”

Pepper’s muzzle wrinkled at the thought of what horrors that Andrew must’ve seen in that lab. “How terrible. Is that why you ran?”

Andrew shook his head. “No…Not exactly. I…didn’t know what to think at the time. But then I found Andross’s notes and…” He trailed off, his eyes squeezing shut as his body began to tremble.

“Take your time, son.” Pepper said.

Andrew took a few deep breaths, the pain medication numbing the pain the action would have caused, and spoke. “…He was planning on making me into a chimera.”

Pepper nearly dropped the pen he was holding. Fox stood up straight, his eyes wide. Even Brutus had nothing to say, he just sat with his arms crossed.

“Something about my genes being ideal for splicing…” Andrew continued. “Before I could even realize what I’d just read, Andross showed up and tried to capture me. So I ran as fast as I could. He made up some lie about me stealing precious specimens and turning traitor. I left Venom after that and found Fox on Fortuna.”

Pepper wrote down everything Andrew had just said, while Brutus looked up at Fox. “Well, Mr. Witness? Does his…story check out?” The gruffness of his voice had softened a bit from shock. He’d heard of many things in his years as a general, but never about an uncle planning to use his own nephew in a sick experiment.

Fox turned to Brutus and quickly nodded. “Yeah. Those Venomian soldiers who were looking for Andrew said that Andross wanted a body, alive or dead, but preferably alive.” He said. “It also lines up with that message Wolf sent.”

“Considering the situation, we may have to send you to a refugee camp on a planet with higher security, like Corneria or here on Fortuna.” Pepper said. Before he could continue, there was a knock at the door before an older looking soldier peeked in. “I’m in the middle of something, what is it?”

The solider saluted before continuing. “I need to speak with both of you outside for a second, sir. It’s urgent.”

Pepper looked at Brutus, who was already getting up. Pepper sighed and followed suit. “Very well. Andrew, we will continue this in a moment.”

Once the two generals left, Fox looked over at Andrew. “…Hey.” Andrew just glanced up at Fox, seeing the concern on his face. He wasn’t completely sure if it was faked or genuine, but the ape wanted to believe the latter. “Did Andross really…He really wanted to do that?”

“I know what I saw, Fox.” Andrew said, looking away.

“I know, I believe you, it’s just…” Fox sighed. “I knew Andross was evil, but to use his own nephew like that…It’s unforgivable.”

Andrew was quiet. Did Fox really believe him or was he just trying to sound nice? The ape could never tell with him. It drove him nuts, but what Fox said oddly…soothed him.

“Well, you don’t have to worry about that anymore. Those refugee camps have high security, and you’ll be deep in Cornerian territory.” Fox said.

Andrew wanted to respond, but before he could, the generals came back in. “Okay, change of plans.” Pepper said.

“What’s going on?” Fox asked.

“Andross just scrambled his forces. We have movement on Katina, Fichina, Zoness, everywhere. We’ve picked up some transmissions and they’re definitely looking for Andrew.” Pepper said, his tone grave.

“Is he going for a Hail Mary?”

“We don’t think so, but if they find Andrew’s location, he might. We need to find a safe place for him to hide as soon as possible. Forget the questions.” Pepper said.

Fox thought for a second, weighing the options. “What about the Great Fox?”

Pepper raised an eyebrow. “Are you sure? Our frigates have larger sizes and stronger defenses, Fox.”

“But that’s what they’d expect. No one would guess that Andrew would be on the Great Fox.”

“I don’t know. You may be underestimating the enemy. I say we send him to the heart of Corneria to be kept safe.”

“Hey, don’t I get a say in this?” Andrew said, standing up. The three turned toward him and Pepper urged him on. “I’m with Fox. He’s right that it’s one of the last places they’d expect me to be, but that’s not all. As mercenaries, Star Fox is constantly mobile, so I’ll never be in one place too long. The ship’s defenses are also better than you give it credit for, general. I should know, I got shot down twice by them.”

“And what about when the team needs to go on a mission? Who’ll keep you in check?” Brutus grunted.

“ROB 64.” Fox replied. “That bot is always on the ship, no matter where we are.”

Pepper nodded. “Alright, Fox. You’re the captain of the ship, so it’s ultimately your choice. For now, we need to make the necessary preparations to get Andrew his medicine and discreetly get him aboard your ship. You,” Pepper pointed to the soldier at the door. “Take Andrew back to the medical bay. We’ll come for him when we’re ready. Fox, you go tell your team about the situation. Brutus and I will take care of everything else.”

“You heard the man, we’re on a time crunch, people.” Brutus called. “Let’s move!”

——————

“ARE YOU CRAZY!?” Falco shouted as he slammed the table.

“Falco, cool it. I made my decision.”

“Fox, you do realize who you’re taking on board, right?” Peppy said sternly.

“We have a cell for him, we’ll keep him there as a precaution.”

“Did you even think to ask us first? I think we all have…reservations about him!” Slippy squeaked out.

“I understand that, but the situation-”

“I don’t give a damn about the situation! This is Andross’s nephew we’re talkin’ about! He’ll probably sneak out and kill us in our sleep!” Falco shouted.

“Falco’s right, Fox. We can’t trust him. I don’t understand why you would even suggest keeping him on our ship!” Peppy said.

“Not to mention how mean he is…” Slippy croaked.

“I understand how you all feel.” Fox said, standing up.

“Do you!? I don’t think you do, because if you did, you’d be sending the little fucker to Corneria instead!” Falco squawked. 

“Just calm down for two seconds and let me explain, Falco!” Fox raised his voice. When the bird grunted and sat back down with his arms folded, he continued. “I know how you guys feel, but hiding him on the Great Fox is our best option. If Venom gets their hands on Andrew, there’s a possibility that not only will he suffer, but Andross may get a new bioweapon if his experiment is successful.”

“Fox, how do you know he ain’t lying about this? This is the flesh and blood of the man that murdered your father, for cryin’ out loud.” Peppy said.

“I just know, Peppy.” It was all Fox could say. Of course there was a chance Andrew was lying, but everything he’d seen and heard up to this point hinted to the contrary. He also just wanted to believe him. “I know it’s a risk, but with everything we know, it’s a risk I’m willing to take. If what he says is true, he’s seen things we’ve only seen in our darkest nightmares. He saw all of Andross’s experiments and the man is even considering using him as a specimen. His entire home turned against him in one day, and now he has nowhere to go but here. I’m willing to give him a chance and keep him safe. All I ask is that you at least give him a chance.”

Peppy sighed. “Fox, this is either going to be the kindest or dumbest thing you’ve ever done. You remind me more of yer father every day.” The old hard chuckled a bit. “Fine. I’ll give him one chance, but if he tries anything, he’s going in the airlock.”

Falco huffed. “Do I even have a damn choice? Fine, but one wrong move and I’ll kick his monkey ass!”

Fox turned to Slippy. “Well, Slip? Will you give him a chance?”

Slippy fiddled with his fingers. “I-I-I don’t know, Fox. I mean…It’s horrible what happened, but…” The toad took a deep breath. “Well, i-it’s three to one anyway. Just…keep him away from me, okay?”

“Alright.” Fox nodded.

“Fox, I really hope you know what you’re doing.” Peppy said.

Fox sighed. “I do too, Pep.”


	4. Chapter 4

One day. That’s all it took. In the span of one day, Andrew lost everything. Now here he was, forced to rely on his former enemies for safety. If he had any pride left, it was squashed when he stepped foot into his cell, his new home for the foreseeable future. The cell itself wasn’t anything spectacular. The walls and floor were the same white color as the rest of the ship, the window and bed being the only splash of color in the room. Though, the blue sky in the window would soon be replaced by the black emptiness of space once they took off, and the only color left would be the blue mattress and blanket. There was a door in the corner of the room that let to a small bathroom with only the bare necessities. A toilet, sink, mirror, and a shower, all clustered close together. There was a television in the room, though it was very old and had nothing plugged into it anyway. No cable, no DVD player, no game system, not even a lousy VCR. It was about as useless as it could get. A glorified room decoration. The only other things to look at were the bars, a bright blue laser grid that would fry or electrocute Andrew if he touched it.

Andrew would have let out a sigh of frustration, but the pain medication had begun to wear off. Every breath he took became more and more painful as time went on, his broken ribs making themselves _very_ known. All he could do was just lay in bed and wait for them to bring his medication.

“Hey.”

Andrew looked over and saw Fox standing on the other side of the lasers. “You doing okay in there?”

“Fucking peachy, what do you want?”

“Calm down, we got your pain meds. Here.” Fox took out a bottle of pills and some bottled water. He placed them in a glass box attached to the wall and sent it through the laser grid. Andrew slowly got out of bed, grunting at the pain the action caused. He made his way over to the box and took the pills and water. “Doc says you need to take three pills now, that’ll last you all night. After that you’ll take one after every meal and one before you sleep, starting tomorrow.”

“Is this even enough? That’s four pills every day.” Andrew said. He poured three pills into his hand and gulped them down with the water.

“We have more bottles. They stocked us to the teeth with them.” Fox said. “Enough to last a month and a half.”

Andrew nodded and laid back down, hoping the medication would kick in soon. “Alright.” He muttered.

“We’ll be taking off in about an hour.”

“Can’t wait for the in-flight movie.” Andrew said sarcastically.

“What?” Fox asked. Andrew gestured to the television.

Fox glanced over. “Huh. Forgot that was in here. Does it work?”

“Turns on but static isn’t exactly interesting.”

Fox thought for a second. “Hmm…Hold on a sec.” The vulpine walked off.

In the few minutes he was gone, the pain medication started to ease the pain. Andrew tested the waters a bit, leaning up and laying back down. By the time Fox returned, the pain was almost gone.

“Here. It isn’t much, but it should keep you from going stir crazy.” Fox said, sending something in the glass box. Andrew got up to see what it was. It was a small red and white game system with rectangular controllers. There were a few long rectangular cartridges as well. “It’s my old Family Entertainment System. It’s old, but it still works.”

Andrew looked up at Fox, unsure what to say. He appreciated the gesture, even if it was likely just so he’d keep quiet, but…

Fox read his facial expression and spoke again. “Oh, and don’t worry about your broken arm. I put Brother, Fleeting Fantasy, and Demon Quest in there. You can play those with one hand, even if it can be a bit cumbersome.”

“Oh, uh…Thanks.” Andrew said. It came out awkward and confused, since he was expecting to be treated like any prisoner, not given a freaking game system with games accommodating his current state.

“Don’t mention it.” Fox said, crossing his arms. “Just don’t break it.”

Andrew nodded and lifted the surprisingly light system out of the box and onto the bed, along with the controllers and games, opting to hook it up later. “So is everyone going to be this sweet or are you just that nice?”

“Don’t get the wrong idea, Andrew. I still don’t trust you, but that doesn’t mean I’m going to treat you like garbage. The rest of the team was completely against you being here, though, so I suggest being on your best behavior around them.”

“Okay, _dad_. If I play nice, can I have some ice cream?” Andrew said mockingly.

“I mean it, Andrew.” Fox said, though admittedly he had to keep himself from chuckling at that.

“Fine, fine.” Andrew said, rolling his eyes. If the other Star Fox members had such an issue with him, they just had to deal with it. Not like Andrew himself had much of a choice.

“Good. I’ll be on the bridge if you need anything. Just use the button over their to access the comm. I’ll pick up when I can.” Fox said before walking off.

Andrew turned toward the bed and stared at the game system. There’s no way this was just some kind gesture, right? It had to be rigged somehow. Maybe with a camera or a microphone, or both. He examined the thing up and down before noticing there was already a security camera outside the cell, making him feel pretty dumb.

 _Maybe for once, someone’s actually trying to do something nice for you._ Andrew scolded himself. _Quit being paranoid and just accept it. It’s not like things can get any worse. Don’t be ungrateful._

He looked back down at the game system. The white had yellowed a bit, and it certainly had seen a lot of use. He sighed, finally able to thanks to that medicine, and proceeded to hook the system up to the TV. It wasn’t exactly easy, hooking it up with one arm, but he made it work. Once all the wires were set up, he turned the television on and laid out the three games. The Fleeting Fantasy and Demon Quest cartridges were white and black respectively, but the cartridge for Brother stood out. It was a bright red with gold text, a globe where the O was in the title. Demon Quest looked rather generic, having a knight fighting a giant demon. Fleeting Fantasy seemed a bit more interesting, but it still had a knight on it. Andrew just went with Brother, since it stood out the most. He stuck the cartridge in and powered the system on, the beeping music starting up.

——————

The atmosphere on the bridge was so tense, Fox could feel it tugging at his fur. Falco was abnormally silent, Peppy was just flipping through a book, and Slippy was mindlessly tinkering with a gadget. He knew he had made a decision against his team’s wishes, and they had every right to be upset with him. But he needed to clear the tension, or else it may grow into something worse. But how? It’s not like he could make some grand speech, that alone wasn’t going to fix this. And Andrew certainly seemed like he wasn’t going to make things easy. The ape seemed to just be naturally rude.

“How do ya’ll feel about meatloaf tonight?” Peppy muttered.

“S-sure. Your meatloaf is tasty.” Slippy said, missing his usual upbeat tone.

“Whatever.” Falco mumbled.

“Yeah. That sounds good.” Fox said.

Peppy nodded and got up. “I’ll go get it started then. It’ll be ready when we get out of atmosphere.”

Fox got up and followed Peppy. “I’ll give you a hand.” Peppy didn’t say anything and just let Fox tail along.

When they got to the kitchen, Peppy turned to face Fox when the door closed, hands on his hips. “Alright, boy. I know you didn’t come in here just to help, you can’t cook to save yer life. What is it?”

Fox wasn’t even surprised. Peppy could read him like a book. “I just wanted to talk. Maybe clear the air a bit? I know you all aren’t happy with me right now.”

Peppy sighed, but nodded. “You’re right. We aren’t.” He said, his tone soft. “But I understand why you made yer decision. James would’ve done the same thing if he were in your shoes and I’d be pissed at him, too.” Peppy shook his head. “Sometimes you both are too nice for yer own good.”

Fox felt a little saddened at the mention of his father. Sometimes he wished the old hare wouldn’t bring it up so much. “It wasn’t just because I was nice, Peppy.”

“Ulterior motives, Fox? That’s unlike you.” Peppy said.

“Very funny.” Fox said. “I just wanted to know more about him.” Peppy gave him a weird look at that, so he continued on quickly. “I mean, we went to flight academy together, we were even roommates. I was on my last year, he was on his first, but someone screwed up the dorm arrangements, but that’s not the point. The point is that he was different back then. I want to know what the hell happened to him that made him change so much.” Fox left it at that. A single memory tugged at his brain, but he ignored it. “He was my friend, Pep.”

Peppy looked up at Fox and studied him. Searching for a hint that Fox may be lying or trying to cover for himself. Nothing. “Why didn’t you say anything earlier, Fox? Why didn’t you tell us that you knew Andrew before the war?”

Fox didn’t know how to answer that. “I…I didn’t think it would matter to you.”

“Fox, of course it does. I thought you were bringing the boy on based on a whim or something he said to trick ya, not because you knew him back then and wanted to help him.” Peppy said. “I swear, you’re gonna give this old man his first migraine.” He joked.

Fox let out a soft laugh at that. “I thought Falco and Slippy would’ve done that long ago.”

Peppy laughed, the tension easing between them. “They almost have, on multiple occasions!”

The two laughed together for a while before Fox finally said, “I’m sorry I didn’t consult you guys first, Pep.”

Peppy smiled and pulled Fox into a hug. “I forgive ya, Fox.” He patted the man’s back a bit before releasing the hug. “You were pressed for time anyway, I heard about Andross’s forces mobilizing. Now, with Falco and Slippy, they’re much more upset. I think you should give them a little time before bringing Andrew up. Speaking of which, I should make a bit extra for him, too.”

Fox nodded. “Noted. Now…I can still help you cook, if you need me to.” He offered.

“You can hold stuff for me, I love ya like a son, but your cooking is going to kill somebody.”

——————

“Ugh, where do I gooooo…” Andrew groaned as he mindlessly moved his character around. He was completely lost. All he knew was he needed to get into the attic of his character’s house, but he couldn’t figure out how. He checked every room and talked to the character’s mother and sisters multiple times. He went outside, thinking maybe he’d find a clue in the woods, when battles kept happening, whittling down his health, then killing him, making him start all over again. It wasn’t until he talked to his character’s cat, which he didn’t even notice every time he walked past it, that he figured out he had a telepathy ability, which netted him the key to the attic. “Finally.”

After getting through his first challenge, he started getting used to the game. The music was irritating at first, but it grew on him and became very catchy. He figured out how to save and rest to get health back, and even started leveling up quickly, getting new ways to attack and even heal as he went along. Just as he started exploring a graveyard south of the first town, he felt the ship shake a bit, and when he looked to the window, they were taking off. Had it really been an hour already!?

“Having fun?”

“GAH!” Andrew nearly jumped out of the bed, earning a nice little sting of pain. “Shit, Fox, you scared the hell outta me!”

Fox was roaring with laughter. Andrew wanted to be mad, but Fox’s laughter wasn’t mocking, just good natured. “Sorry, sorry! Didn’t realize how into it you got.”

Andrew felt his cheeks heat up as he looked away. “Oh, p-please, it’s not like I have anything to do! Besides, this game is kinda dumb, who wants to play as a snot-nosed kid anyway?” He blabbered.

“ _Sure_ it is. You know, I can give you some pointers if you’re having trouble. I’ve beaten this game like a hundred times.”

“I’m perfectly capable of figuring it out!” Andrew said, trying to cross his arms, though the effect was lost with one of his arms in a sling.

“I’m sure you are.” Fox said, smiling. “Anyway, I brought you dinner. Peppy made sure to make enough extra meatloaf for you.”

Andrew walked over as the glass box went through the lasers. He had to admit, he wasn’t fond of meatloaf. His aunt always made it, but he always disliked the taste. Still, if he refused, they’d probably starve him. So he took the plate and fork and set it carefully on the bed.

“You can get a tray to come out if you push that little indent in the wall.” Fox suggested. Andrew glanced at the wall beside his bed and did what Fox said, making a tray slide out of the wall over the bed.

“That’s…handy.” Andrew said. He set the food on there and sat down. He picked up the fork, but he could still feel Fox’s eyes on him. “Uh…You get a kick out of watching people eat or something?”

Fox just smiled. “You’ve never had Peppy’s cooking before. I just wanna see you try it.”

Andrew had no idea what Fox was talking about, so he just awkwardly took a bite, readying himself to fake enjoy it. Instead, his eyes lit up as he tasted some of the best food he’d ever eaten in his life. It put his aunt’s meatloaf to absolute _shame_. He could just feel Fox grinning at him as he went for another bite, but he didn’t care. He just had to have more.

“Whoa, slow down, you’ll choke if you’re not careful.” Fox said, chuckling. “You can leave the plate in the box when you’re done. I’ll let Peppy know you liked it.”

All Andrew could do was just nod as he ate more of the delightful meal. As he ate, a small smile appeared on his face.

 _Maybe_ , he thought, _just maybe…This won’t be as bad as I thought._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one was just a little shorter than the others, but believe me, chapter 5 will definitely be longer! Also bonus points if you understand all the video game references, haha!


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Took a while on these, but it's a double feature, pumping out both chapters 5 and 6!  
> Hope you enjoy the read, because things are starting to heat up!

_“ALERT. ALERT. REACTOR CORE MALFUNCTION. REACTOR CORE MALFUNCTION.”_

Andrew shot awake, the alarm blaring in his ears. His cell was bathed in red flashing light, and the laser grid keeping him caged was gone. He looked around and got up, grunting at the pain. He scrambled to get his pills and managed to gulp a couple down, praying that they’d take effect soon.

 _Reactor core malfunction…shit._ Andrew thought to himself. _That’s not good. If there’s a malfunction there, this whole ship could be blown to hell._

He didn’t bother to wait for the medication and just started making his way out of the cell block. If there was a problem with the core, a ship this size would have about three hours if the problem is minor, but only about thirty minutes if it was major, so he didn’t have much time. He tried to move as fast as he could, but his ribs were still giving him hell. It had been a little over a week since he came onto the ship, so they were still far from healed, but he pushed through and ran onto the bridge.

The bridge was empty except for the robot he saw every now and again, the one who ran the ships mechanical functions. “Hey, tin can!” He called, forgetting the robot’s name. “What’s going on!? Where’s Fox and the others?”

The robot turned around, its red visor scanning Andrew. “ANDREW OIKONNY. YOU ARE NOT AUTHORIZED TO THAT INFORMATION. PLEASE EVACUATE THE SHIP VIA ESCAPE POD OR RETURN TO YOUR CELL.”

“Not authorized!? I think I’m plenty authorized in a life and death situation! Tell me, where the hell is Star Fox!? Are they on the ship or not!?” He had to yell to be heard over the alarm.

“THEY RECEIVED A MISSION APPROXIMATELY AN HOUR AGO. THEY ARE NO LONGER ON THE GREAT FOX.” The robot said. “YOU ARE THE ONLY LIFE FORM LEFT ABOARD. EVACUATE VIA ESCAPE POD OR RETURN TO YOUR CELL. I WILL GUIDE YOU TO THE ESCAPE POD IF YOU WISH.”

Escape pod. If Andrew got on an escape pod and the ship blew up, he’d be home free. They wouldn’t be able to track him without the ship, and he could go anywhere in Lylat and possibly beyond. It would be the perfect escape…if Andrew actually wanted to escape. This was the only safe haven he had right now. Even if the others either didn’t trust him or hated his guts, this was the only place he could hide from his uncle.

“I’m not escaping, and I’m sure as hell not going to sit around and wait to be blown to space bits. This is the only safe place I have right now.” Andrew said. “Where’s the reactor room? I’m going to try and repair it.”

“YOU ARE NOT AUTHORIZED TO THAT INFORMATION.”

Andrew groaned. He hated dealing with robots. They were purely logic-driven and very stubborn. Luckily, Andrew figured out how to get around a lot of them by using solid logic himself. “Listen, tin can, if there’s a major problem with that core, we may only have a few minutes until we go boom! Star Fox left an hour ago, right? That means we could be destroyed before they return! If you let me repair the core, then we’ll either be saved or blown up, which would’ve happened anyway!”

“THERE IS A CHANCE YOU WILL SABOTAGE THE CORE. YOU WERE A VENOMIAN SOLDIER ONCE.”

“Correction: I was a mercenary. I was never in the Venomian army. Besides, if I was going to sabotage the core, why would I repair it!? The ship’s already going to blow, and without the Great Fox, Star Fox are a bunch of sitting ducks out there! All I’d have to do is take the escape pod and distract them, but am I going to do that? No! I’m going to repair the core, and you’re going to help me, tin can!” Andrew shouted.

The robot processed his words. “…CONFIRMED. ACCESS TO REACTOR ROOM GRANTED. FOLLOW ME.” Andrew heaved a sigh of relief and followed the robot to the reactor.

The first thing Andrew felt when the door to the reactor opened was the extreme heat. He yelled out swears upon swears as he stepped into the room. The core was overheating, that much was obvious. With the heat in the room, Andrew figured the ship had about twenty minutes until an explosion, but he only had ten minutes until the heat would be too much for him. He had to find the root of the problem, and fast.

He observed the reactor, a large spherical tank that was shaking and glowing red and orange from the heat. There were pipes connecting the sphere to all kinds of other tanks and to other parts of the ship, but he noticed three of the pipes were shaking violently. Despite the intense heat, they were freezing over, but only up to a certain point. It didn’t take him long to figure out the issue.

“Tin can!” He shouted over the loud noises of the reactor. “Do you see those coolant pipes!? There’s a clog in them! Turn that valve up there to redirect the coolant flow, then remove the clogged pipes and we’ll figure out what’s clogging them up!”

“AFFIRMATIVE. COMMAND ACCEPTED.” The robot ran over to the pipes and extended its arms, grabbing a valve at the base of the coolant tank and turning it. The coolant flow was stopped in the three clogged pipes and redirected to the three other coolant pipes. It wasn’t nearly enough to stop the core from overheating, though. The robot moved over to the affected pipes and turned a lever on each end, sealing each pipe so coolant didn’t spill onto the floor. It removed all three and scanned them. “CLOG CONFIRMED. IT APPEARS THAT THERE IS A BLOCK OF ICE IN EACH PIPE.”

“Ice? Shit, that’s not good. Is there a tear in any of them? Doesn’t matter how deep or small it is.” Andrew said.

The robot scanned again. “AFFIRMATIVE. THERE ARE MINUSCULE TEARS ON THE INTERIOR OF EACH PIPE. LOCATION IS THE SAME AS THE ICE BLOCKAGE.”

“Then we’ve found our problem. These pipes are no good, we need to replace them entirely. How many spares do we have?”

“THERE ARE SIX SPARE COOLANT PIPES. I WILL REPLACE THE PIPES IMMEDIATELY.” The robot quickly got to work, mechanically dashing toward the spare parts room and coming back with three pipes.

“Connect them, hurry! The core’s getting worse! When you connect them, open the coolant tank’s end first! Then redirect the flow again!”

The robot connected each pipe, then opened them up at the coolant end first like Andrew commanded. It turned the valve until the flow was equally distributed.

“Now open up the pipes on the reactor at the same time! It’ll flush the reactor with enough coolant to stop it from overheating!” Andrew said as he grabbed a pair of protective gloves and put one of them on his good arm. “I’ll grab one lever, you grab the other two!”

“NEGATIVE. YOU ARE TOO CLOSE TO THE REACTOR.”

“If we don’t do this at the same time, we’re not going to stop it from overheating! It needs to be flushed by all three pipes or it won’t do any good! I’ll take a few burns over death, thank you! Now let’s go!” Andrew ran up to the reactor and grabbed a lever, while the robot followed his commands and grabbed the other two. “Okay, on three!” Andrew yelled. He could feel the painful heat on his hand, but he ignored it.

“One,”

“Two,”

“Three!” The two pulled their levers at the same time, and the coolant rushed into the reactor, causing steam to erupt from the tank with a deafening hiss. Andrew shut his eyes tight as the steam filled the room. He coughed and tried to get away from the reactor, each cough causing pain to erupt from his ribs. He heard the robot walking up to him, then felt something go over his face.

“BREATHING APPARATUS APPLIED. TAKE DEEP BREATHS.” The robot commanded. Andrew did as it said, and breathed in the clean oxygen from the ventilator. “OPENING SPACE VENTILATION SHAFT. DO NOT REMOVE BREATHING APPARATUS UNTIL THERE IS ENOUGH OXYGEN.” The robot said. Andrew looked up as a large ventilation shaft opened up, quickly clearing the room of steam. After it closed, Andrew could see the reactor, now glowing a soft blue. He heaved a heavy sigh of relief.

After a while, oxygen flowed back into the reactor room, and the robot allowed Andrew to remove the ventilator. “Whew…thanks, tin can.” He said. “Scan the core, make sure there aren’t any other problems.”

“AFFIRMATIVE.” The robot turned to scan the core. “COMPLETE SCAN WILL TAKE APPROXIMATELY ONE MINUTE.”

Before Andrew could think about what to do next, the door to the reactor room opened and the Star Fox team burst in, Falco and Peppy aiming their guns right at Andrew. “Freeze! What the hell is going on here!?” Peppy shouted.

“Andrew!?” Falco shouted. “I knew it! I fucking knew it! He’s trying to blow up the ship! I told you Fox!”

“Hey, hey, hey, calm down! I just finished fixing the thing!” Andrew said frantically, holding his good arm up, still wearing the glove.

“Fixing it!? Sure you were, you lying little rat!” Falco shouted.

“Falco, chill! Everybody just calm down!” Fox commanded. “The core looks fine to me. ROB, what’s the situation?” Fox said, turning to the robot.

 _So its name is ROB? That’s a dumb name, I’m sticking with tin can._ Andrew thought to himself.

ROB was still scanning, so it didn’t respond until a few seconds later. The robot turned to Andrew. “SCAN COMPLETE. NO FURTHER PROBLEMS DETECTED. CORE IS AT SAFE TEMPERATURE AND ALL FUNCTIONS ARE NORMAL.”

The whole team paused for a moment. They had all come to fix the reactor, which their computers said was minutes from being destroyed, and now it was working perfectly. Slippy pushed through and saw the frozen pipes on the ground. Andrew saw him looking and spoke. “There was a chunk of ice blocking those three pipes. The reactor didn’t get enough coolant and wound up overheating.”

Slippy looked up at Andrew, backing up a bit. “And…Y-you fixed it?”

“Well, technically tin can did all the hard work.” Andrew said.

“But you figured out the problem? What, um…What was it?” The frog asked timidly.

“There was a small tear in each of the pipe’s interior walls. Coolant must’ve collected there, causing a small chunk of ice. As time went on, the ice chunk more than likely grew larger and larger, until it clogged the whole thing. I’ve seen it end tons of other ships before.” Andrew explained.

“W-wow, and you figured that out that quick?”

“Well, tin can did scan them for tears.” Andrew shrugged.

Slippy, for once, gave the monkey a small smile. “He did, huh? He scanned for tears that small specifically?”

“Well, I mean, I thought that may have been the problem, so I told him to scan for them, but-”

“Wait, wait, hold up! You were commanding our robot? ROB, what the hell!?” Falco squawked.

“MY DIRECTIVE WAS TO SAVE THE GREAT FOX, I DID AS HE ASKED IN ORDER TO REPAIR THE SHIP.” ROB said.

“ROB.” Peppy said. “Tell us exactly what happened before we got here.”

“AFFIRMATIVE.”

ROB explained all of the events leading up to Star Fox’s arrival. From Andrew looking for them, to refusing the escape pod, and how he fixed the reactor. He even played a recording of Andrew’s voice and his actions.

By the time ROB finished updating the team on the situation, all their guns were holstered and Slippy had double checked everything on the reactor. Andrew had done a perfect job. He checked for any signs of sabotage or other foul play, but he found nothing.

“You saved our ship.” Fox said. “Nice work, Andrew. There I was out there thinking I’d have to find you all over again, but you fixed the problem easily.”

“And so fast too!” Slippy said. “I mean, replacing three whole coolant pipes and flushing the reactor takes a lot of math and precision. The core would’ve blown up before I figured it out.” The toad was actually impressed, the feeling replacing his fear of Andrew. “The way ROB was talking, you did it almost instantly! Did you do all the math in your head?”

“I mean, yeah…? It’s not that impressive, all I did was replace a few pipes…” Andrew said, not used to being praised so much. Whenever he fixed a ship back on Venom, he was chastised for not doing it fast enough or just because they could’ve done it themselves. He’d never been thanked for saving a ship before.

“Oh, don’t be so modest, Andrew.” Fox said. “I’ve told you before, you’re a lot smarter than you give yourself credit for.”

Andrew felt his cheeks light up, not only from the compliment but from the memory that compliment brought up. “Ehehe…Whatever you say, Fox…” He pushed it back, opting to worry about it later.

Slippy noticed a change in Andrew’s behavior and changed the subject quick. “Uh, c-can I have that glove back?” Slippy asked.

“Huh? Oh, yeah, sure, here.” Andrew said, completely forgetting he had it on.

——————

After Andrew had returned to his cell and the team had triple checked the reactor for sabotage or any other issues, they all left again to return to their mission, leaving Andrew alone on the ship again.

His mind trailed back to Fox’s compliment. “ _You’re a lot smarter than you give yourself credit for._ ” 

The memory that single sentence tempted to bring back bubbled to the surface, despite how hard Andrew tried to repress it. Eventually he just gave up and thought back to that day…

  
Back in their Flight Academy days, Andrew sucked at anything hands-on. He excelled at written tests and projects, but he always failed the flight simulators. Even when he tried his damn hardest to get it down, he always got mixed up, forgot important details, or was too slow to react. The only reason he ever got his flight license was through cheating and bribes. His last year was full of underhanded tactics to get ahead. His first year, however, was different. He’d wanted to fly so badly, he tried and tried and tried to get the hang of it but never could. He thought it was hopeless.

Fox, on the other hand, was the complete opposite. While he struggled with written exams, he aced every single flying test he ever took. Every time Andrew watched his simulator record, he was astounded at how good he was. He and Falco were at the top of their class, for all three years they were there. Andrew was normally at the bottom.

One day, Andrew nearly gave up on flying entirely, telling Fox that he’d never be able to fly right. That’s when Fox offered to give him some pointers to help him out. For the rest of the year, Fox became a tutor for Andrew. On top of their late night partying and roaming, every week Fox and Andrew would go to the flight simulator and Fox would teach him. The improvement was there, but it was never enough. He thought the tutoring was just useless after a few months, thinking that it wasn’t helping at all. But he still went. He still let Fox teach him, because back then, Andrew always wanted to be near Fox. Fox was his best, his only, friend back then. But for Andrew, good things don’t ever last. There was one night he screwed up, and everything changed between them.

It was the night before Andrew’s final flight test. If he failed, he was out of the school. Fox did his best to teach him that night, but Andrew couldn’t handle the pressure and crashed his ship for what had to be the hundredth time.

“Dammit, I’m never going to pass this test.” Andrew groaned, leaning back in the pilot’s seat.

“Don’t say that! Come on, let’s try again. You almost had it!” Fox said. He was sitting right next to Andrew, where the instructor would normally sit. The simulator was almost like a weird VR arcade game, with basic controls that are on almost every ship that could fly. The instructor, in this case Fox, had their own set of controls that affected the simulation. Fox reached for the restart button, but Andrew stopped him.

“Ehh, I’ve had enough for one night.”

“Oh, come on, you can do it! All you have to do is get a pass, then you’ll be golden!” Fox said encouragingly.

“Easy for you to say. You’re, like, the best pilot in the whole school! All I got is the money to go here.”

“Money isn’t all you have, Andrew.”

“Oh yeah? Tell me, smart guy, what else do I have?”

Fox raised an eyebrow. “Who’s the one who always gets the highest score on the written exams? When it comes to that, you’re the best!”

Normally, a remark like that would cause Andrew’s ego to boost, but this was different. A written exam wouldn’t help him fly. He didn’t need smarts, he needed skill. “What good are written exams if I crash my ship nine times out of ten?”

Fox sighed and looked at Andrew, a soft smile on his face. “Andrew, let me tell you something. You are the smartest guy I’ve ever met.”

“Oh, come on…”

“I’m serious! You always put yourself down in front of me, and it always drives me nuts because you keep forgetting how high your grades actually are! Give yourself some credit!” He gave him a playful jab to the arm. “You already brag about yourself so much, you can at least brag about what really makes you awesome.”

Andrew sighed and leaned back in his seat. “Damn, Fox. Keep talking like that and I may get the wrong idea.” He joked, trying to lighten his mood. He tried to get a rise out of him, but this time Fox was quiet. “Uh…Fox?”

Andrew looked over at Fox to see his vulpine friend rubbing his neck, his ears turning red. “Maybe that’s the point, y’know…?”

“What?”

Fox scooted closer to Andrew, making the monkey tense up a bit. “Maybe…I _want_ to give you the wrong idea.” Fox said, his voice so soft and smooth. He rested a hand on Andrew’s leg.

“H-huh?” Andrew’s face burned like fire when he realized what was happening. He didn’t know what to do or what to think. He’d never had feelings for anyone, nor had anyone had feelings for him. What should he say? Should he just let Fox keep going? Should he stop him? Was this right? Was this wrong? They were both guys, so was that wrong? Or is that how it always was? So many questions flooded the ape’s mind while Fox just got closer and closer.

“Andrew, I think you’re…really great.” Fox said, his voice a bit awkward. “I mean, if it weren’t for you…my last year here would have been so dull and lifeless.” Fox leaned closer, his face inches from Andrew’s. His eyes closed and he went in for a kiss.

Andrew completely froze up. He felt Fox’s lips connect with his, and it felt like his entire nervous system exploded with electricity. His heart felt like it was about to leap out of his chest, and a swarm of butterflies swirled in his stomach like a tornado. It was such a strange and new feeling, but the monkey was still so confused and surprised that he didn’t move.

When Fox didn’t feel Andrew kiss him back, he pulled away, his smile gone. “I, uh…Um…” He said awkwardly. They both looked away from each other. “L-look, I’m sorry if I came off a bit…strong there…I could tell you, um…I-I’d better go.” He said. Andrew could hear that he was on the verge of tears, believing that Andrew didn’t feel the same. The truth was, Andrew didn’t know how he felt. Before he could even stop Fox, before he could muster up the courage to say something, he was already gone.

And they never spoke of the kiss again. Even now, Fox acted like it didn’t even happen.

  
Andrew sighed, staring up at the ceiling. He’d spent a long time trying to avoid that memory, but there it was. And with it came a wave of regret.

 _I should’ve kissed him back._ Andrew thought to himself. He closed his eyes and thought back to all the other kisses he’d shared with other men. Some of them were sloppy and unsatisfying, some were passionate but empty, some men had breath that smelled like beer or cigarettes, and some were too damn rough with him. But it was more than that. No matter how many other men he saw, he never felt that same feeling as he did when Fox kissed him. He yearned for that feeling for years, but now…Was it too late? Had Fox moved on? Maybe he found someone else. Someone better than him. Someone who didn’t need to prove himself to anyone who’d give him the attention. Someone who didn’t freeze up when someone confessed their love like a dumbass.

He began to wonder how different his life would be if he returned the kiss back then. Would he have given up everything and stayed with Fox? Would he be a member of Star Fox as well as Fox’s boyfriend? Would they have worked out, or broken up days after getting together? Each question that followed tugged more and more at Andrew’s heart.

“Are you okay?”

Andrew jolted up with a yelp of surprise, turning to see the short toad on the other side of the lasers. “Holy shit, don’t sneak up on me like that!” Andrew exclaimed. “What the hell are you even doing here? I thought you went back to the mission!”

“I-I’m sorry, b-but they wanted me to s-stay to watch the r-r-reactor…” Slippy said, shaking a bit.

“O-oh, oh, right, the reactor, yeah…” Andrew cleared his throat and calmed down. “Sorry for yelling, you just startled me.”

“I didn’t mean to, y-you were just staring at the ceiling. Were you…thinking about something?” He asked.

“None of your-” Andrew took a deep breath and stopped himself. “It’s personal. I’d rather not talk about it.”

“O-okay.”

After a moment of awkward silence, Andrew asked, “So, did you just come here to check on me or what?”

The toad jumped a bit as if he just remembered what he came for and rummaged through his jacket. “Oh, right, I-I have something for you.” He pulled out a small wrench and sent it over in the glass box.

“A…wrench?” Andrew picked it up and examined it. Flawless silver decorated with strands of gold. It was definitely high quality, probably a part of a set of really expensive tools. But why was Slippy giving it to him?

“It’s a p-peace offering. Y-you know, to show no hard feelings…?” Slippy said. “You really saved our butts when you fixed the reactor, so…”

Andrew looked up at the toad. He was surprised. After everything he did when he was in Star Wolf, Slippy wanted to make peace? 

“…Th-thanks.” Andrew said. He didn’t know what else to say.

Slippy gave him a little smile and nodded before starting to walk away.

“Wait a second.” Andrew stopped him. He didn’t even think, the words just spilled out without him realizing. When the frog turned back to him, he thought of what he needed to say. He didn’t feel right accepting such a nice gift with everything he’d done. “I…I just wanted to say…I’m sorry.” He took a deep breath, swallowed any shred of pride he had left. “For everything I’ve done. All the horrible things I said to you, the times I tried to kill you…Everything. I’m so sorry. All those times I told you to go back to the pond, all the names I called you…It was all just some stupid attempt to impress everyone on Star Wolf.”

Slippy gave Andrew one of the biggest, most genuine smiles he’d ever seen, the frog’s eyes tearing up. “Awww, Andrew…!” He said in his high pitched voice. “Apology accepted!!” He said excitedly. The toad seemed so happy that Andrew actually owned up to his mistakes and apologized. Maybe there was hope after all, the toad thought.

After Slippy happily bounced away, Andrew sat back onto his bed, clutching the wrench Slippy gave him. For the one time in two years, he felt like he had made a friend. Not just an acquaintance, an ally, or a comrade. A genuine friend.


	6. Chapter 6

The first thing Andrew saw when he opened his eyes was the piercing orange glare of his uncles eyes. Confused and afraid, he frantically tried to get up but couldn’t. He looked down and saw his own naked body strapped to an operating table. His eyes went wide with fear, looking back up at his uncle.

“Did you really think you could escape my grasp, Andrew?” Andross spoke in his deep, intimidating voice. “All you did was give me a headache.”

Andrew tried to speak, to beg for his life, plead his uncle not to do this, but the words never came. He felt his mouth move, his throat tensing from his screams, but no sound came out.

“You were always such a worthless child.” Andross spat, sneering at him. “A good-for-nothing runt who could barely even pass his tests. Your poor parents must have been so ashamed of you, having to bribe that school to get you that license.”

Andross’s words cut Andrew’s heart like a knife. Tears welled up in the boy’s eyes as Andross continued on.

“I had hoped you would be of some use to me before, but like the useless rat you are you always failed me. Oh, but don’t cry.” Andross’s tone softened. “You’ll finally be of some use to me. You’ll make me proud as one of my elite chimera soldiers.” A sick, evil grin spread across his face. Andrew violently shook his head, the tears running down his face. He could only watch as Andross made his way over to a table and picked up a scalpel. The shining blade filled Andrew with fear, making his blood run cold.

“Now…What to make a worthless little shit like you into…” Andross said thoughtfully, scanning Andrew’s body. “You always liked mermaids when you were a child. How about,” Andross traced a line across Andrew’s waist, “I cut off your legs and attach the tail of a small leviathan? An aquatic soldier would be very useful. And you’d get to swim around to you heart’s delight.” Andross’s words were filled with a sadistic and psychotic glee, thinking of the possibilities. “Hm, then again, I’d have to rearrange your lungs and give you gills. And I already have one of my finest bioweapons on Aquas.” Andross thought again. “How about I just replace this weak body with a mechanical one? The procedure would be painful, but I can make up for your…shortcomings.” Andross laughed cruelly. “Or I could just rip out that brain of yours and put it in one of my goliath mechs. You’d be in control of a massive powerhouse of a body! Think of all the possibilities, my boy! You can be more powerful than you can imagine, and earn the respect of everyone!” Andross shouted.

Andrew tried to scream harder than he ever had in his life, but again his voice was silent. He didn’t even struggle anymore. All he could do was silently scream.

“Well, now, just imagining the possibilities won’t get us anywhere, will it?” Andross said, lifting the scalpel. “How about…We just start with replacing one of your arms? That’s simple enough, eh? I’ll implant a new one, and we’ll just see what happens.” Andross lowered the blade and cut into Andrew’s arm, causing sound to finally erupt from Andrew’s throat.

——————

“ _UUUAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!!_ ”

Andrew shot up out of bed, his own screaming ringing in his ears. He frantically looked at his surroundings, seeing the white walls of the Great Fox. His breath was heavy, and with each heave he felt horrible pain in his chest. He gripped his shirt tightly, using the pain as an anchor to remember where he was.

 _That’s right,_ he thought, _My ribs are broken…Because I escaped…And I crashed my ship. I’m on the Great Fox, safe and sound. It was just a nightmare. Just a nightmare…Just a nightmare…_

Andrew very slowly began to calm himself as the memories returned and the horrible dream began to fade. He wanted to scream again. Scream loud and push away the terror. But his throat already felt like he had swallowed a cup of needles.

He heard thudding footsteps coming toward him fast, causing him to look up as an old rabbit, whom he recognized as Peppy, dashed in front of the laser grid, wearing pajamas and blaster in hand. “What in tarnation is going on here!?” He shouted, looking around the cell. “What happened!?”

“N-nothing, everything’s fine, I just…had a nightmare is all.” Andrew said quickly.

The old hare let out a sigh of relief and lowered the blaster. “Son of a bitch, you nearly gave me a heart attack. The way you were screamin’, it sounded like you were being murdered.” He said. “Was that really just from a nightmare?”

“…Yes?” Andrew didn’t know what to say. He’d never felt such primal terror in his life, and all from a dream. It sounded pathetic, even to him.

Peppy thought for a moment, then looked around. “You didn’t hurt yerself? Just the nightmare?” He asked.

“Yeah. I’m fine now, so you can go back to bed.” Andrew lied. He was still terrified.

“No you ain’t.” Peppy called his lie. “I ain’t never heard someone scream like that from a nightmare. There is no way you’re okay.” After a moment, the hare pushed a button and the laser grid turned off.

Andrew was shocked. “What are you doing?”

“Follow me. And don’t tell anyone I let you out, alright? And walk in front of me.” Peppy said. He clearly still didn’t trust him, so why was he letting him out?

Andrew didn’t question it and got out of bed, still sore from his screaming. “Where exactly are we going?” He asked, walking ahead of Peppy.

“Cafeteria. Whether you want to or not, we’re talking about this.”

“Look, really, I’m fine. I don’t need your pity.”

Peppy stopped him and wheeled him around. “The hell you are! You sounded like the reaper himself was cuttin’ you with his scythe! That ain’t normal, boy.”

“And why do you care?”

“Because…I ain’t never gonna get any sleep if you scream like that!”

Andrew could tell that was a lie, but he didn’t say anything more and just turned around and kept walking. Peppy gave him directions as they went, and they eventually reached the cafeteria. It was a small room since Star Fox only had four members, but there were two tables and plenty of seats.

“Sit down anywhere. I’ll make some tea.” Peppy said, walking into the kitchen. Andrew sat at one of the circular tables, looking around. There were posters on the walls, mostly of Cornerian movies or old shows. One showed an inspirational photo of James McCloud, Fox’s old man. Below it was his famous quote, “Never give up, trust your instincts.” The ape stared at the fox. He didn’t deserve what happened to him. He was just a mercenary doing a job, yet Andross tortured and killed him as if he were someone important.

“Here.” Andrew’s thoughts were interrupted by Peppy’s voice. The hare put down a cup of hot tea in front of him. He turned a chair to face Andrew and sat down, blowing on his own and taking a sip.

Andrew hesitated before grabbing the cup. He stared at the brown liquid, cautious of the possibility of poison. He didn’t see Peppy pour the cups, so it was possible that…

Andrew interrupted that thought. The old hare had no reason to poison him, especially if he was already held captive on the ship. At this point, he was just being completely paranoid. He took a small sip of the tea, and was once again blown away by the flavor and quality. How the hell could this old man manage to make even tea better?

“Now, start from the beginning. We got all night, so just tell me what happened in this nightmare of yours.” Peppy said.

Andrew looked down at his cup and went quiet for a while. The hare waited patiently for him as he put his thoughts together. The ape took a deep breath, and recounted each detail of the dream. The operating table, Andross’s cruel words, the silent screaming, the possible fate. As Andrew explained it, Peppy listened intently.

“…And that’s when I woke up, screaming my head off.” Andrew finished, his body trembling from remembering the dream. He took another sip of tea, the warmth calming him.

Peppy took a sip of his own and looked at him. “Well, that sure doesn’t sound pleasant.” He said.

“Oh no, it was sunshine and fucking rainbows.” Andrew said sarcastically.

“Oh, hush. I’m just tryin’ to help you.” Peppy scolded softly. “But it sounds to me like you’re afraid that’s what’ll happen to ya.”

Andrew looked down at his tea. “…I am. Back on Venom, I snooped around one of his labs, where I saw all of the chimera experiments.”

“Yes, Fox told me about that.” Peppy said. “I can’t imagine what that was like.”

“It was horrible.” Andrew sipped his tea before continuing. It had been a while since he’d seen the terrible sight, so remembering was at least less distressing than when he’d first arrived. “Some of them were stitched together, but others looked like they had been mutated. Some were so far gone that they became just…A blob of flesh and gore.” He tightened his grip on his cup as he went on. “The only ones that were still alive were all writhing in agony. Most of them were dead.”

Peppy scrunched up his nose at the descriptions. “Good lord…”

“Then I saw the documents and recordings. That’s when I learned he’d planned to turn me into one. Said it was all I was good for. He had log after log talking about all the possible chimeras he could turn me into.” Andrew put down his tea and looked down. “That’s when it clicked. I…denied it for the longest time, deluding myself into thinking I was just being stupid, but it was clear then. My uncle is insane.”

“That…must’ve been hard for you.” Peppy commented.

“It’s still processing. The moment I found all of that out, Andross found me and I ran away. Everything’s happened so fast that…I still don’t know what to think.”

“But the one thing you know for certain is yer fate if Andross found you.”

“Yeah.”

“Well, that’s definitely where the nightmare came from.” Peppy said. “Look at me, son.”

Andrew glanced up at Peppy, looking into his eyes. There was a warm softness to them, his expression calm.

“I want you to listen to me, and listen good.” His tone was gentle. “We may not trust you just yet, but I promise we won’t let Andross get his hands on you. As long as you’re in our custody, you ain’t going anywhere. So when you go back to bed tonight, you remember that. You’re safe here.”

Andrew felt strangely comforted by his former foe’s words. He wanted to thank the old hare, but a single question left his lips instead. “If you don’t trust me, then why do you believe me?” He asked. To him, in seemed contradictory. He wasn’t trusted, but they believed his story. Why?

“Because I know how cruel your uncle is. I was there when James died.” Peppy said. “I know what that man is capable of. But that ain’t all.” The old hare took one final sip of his tea before going on. “Fox believes you. He may not completely trust you just yet, but he believes every word you’ve said to him. I have known that boy since he was a baby, helped James raise him after his mother died. I know him like the back o’ my hand, and he’s always had good intuition. So if he believes you, then I believe you.”

Andrew didn’t know what to say. He’d never been treated so kindly before. “I…” He began, but trailed off quickly. His mind was blank. This man didn’t trust him, yet he let him out of his cell to give him tea and listen to his woes, then offered such kind words in response that all the fear and sorrow had been forgotten. Why? Where had this kindness been all of his life? Why couldn’t his father have been like this?

As Andrew’s mind raced, tears welled up in the boy’s eyes. He was so confused, so torn. Peppy used to be his enemy, yet the kindness he showed him now was warmer than any of Andrew’s former allies. Such soft words had only ever been spoken to him by his aunt, and he so rarely spoke to her. The mere thought that he could’ve had this warmth, this kindness his whole life made him want to cry. All the times he’d been yelled at or ignored, he could have had gentle words and support. The times where he had to learn things himself, he could have had a kind teacher.

“If you need to cry, go ahead.” Peppy’s kind words broke through his thoughts, like a sun through storm clouds. “Everyone else is asleep, and my lips are sealed.”

Andrew shook his head, rubbing his eyes. “I’m fine, I’m fine. I just…The only person who’s ever been this nice to me is my aunt and…well, Fox.” Andrew said. He looked up at Peppy and gave him a small smile. “Thank you.”

Peppy smiled back. “Don’t you go thankin’ me just yet, you’re still on thin ice with me.” Peppy said, raising an eyebrow.

“I’ll keep that in mind.” Andrew said. He glanced over at his half empty cup of tea. “Why are you being so nice to me anyway? You and Fox both. I used to be your enemy. I was in Star Wolf even.”

Peppy shrugged. “I don’t think you’ve noticed, but you’re the youngest man on this ship. I’m in my fifties, while Slippy is actually twenty-three. That, and Fox is a naturally kind soul.”

“And what about you? Surely my age isn’t the only reason.”

“It ain’t. I told you before, I helped James raise Fox, but I got a daughter of my own back home. Maybe it’s just the paternal instincts kickin’ in.”

“Grand-paternal instincts, you mean?” Andrew joked with a smirk.

“Watch it.” Peppy narrowed his eyes, but still wore a smile.

Andrew couldn’t help but smile back. He picked up the tea and drank up the rest of it, no hesitation or worry. After he finished, he gave Peppy his cup and stood up.

“Thank you, again. I feel a lot better now.”

“Good to hear.” Peppy said, getting up. “I’ll walk you back to yer cell.”

——————

Over the next week and a half, Andrew became a bit closer with Fox, Slippy, and Peppy, though Falco still shot him death glares every time he passed the boy’s cell. Every now and again, Slippy would drop by and they’d talk about different things like good tools to use and sharing stories about ships they’ve fixed. Andrew made little bits of progress in the game Fox gave him at a time, with Fox chiming in to help every now and again. He finally used the shower in his cell, which was a surprisingly nice experience. They even took his old Star Wolf uniform and gave him some of Fox’s old clothes. There were a little loose, since Fox’s build was slightly larger, but they fit fine. He ate more of Peppy’s incredible cooking, always made sure to take his pain medicine, and after a while, everything seemed to fall into a comfortable routine. Even his ribs had begun to heal, the pain not nearly as intense as it had been when he arrived. His species of Fichinan Snow Monkeys were known for their fast healing, so even his arm was out of the sling. It was still a bit stiff, so he had to be careful, but it was damn near healed. He began to feel less like a prisoner and more like what he was…a refugee in protective custody. Thanks to Peppy, Andrew wasn’t haunted by nightmares, though the fear wasn’t completely gone. Every day, he felt the creeping fear that somewhere out there, Andross was planning on capturing him. Even as he played Fox’s game, the deep pit of fear never left his gut.

“So, any progress?” Fox asked, watching Andrew play through the laser grid.

“Mm, not really. Just trying to level up.” Andrew looked over at Fox. “Hey, it’s been a while since I got here. What’s going on with Andross? I haven’t heard anything since the general said his forces went crazy.”

Fox crossed his arms and frowned. “Well, they’re definitely looking for you. There’s been tons of movement for days, but still no attacks. They’ve infiltrated a few bases, but retreated every time.”

Andrew felt a chill down his spine. Andross was desperate to get him back. “That’s why you haven’t been on many missions?” He asked.

“You guessed it. Tensions are high, but nothing is really happening. We’ve been on a few security details, but nothing really happened. Only big mission we technically have is to keep you here.”

“Been doing a good job so far.”

Fox smiled a bit. “How are your ribs? And your arm? Doing any better?”

“Yeah, but it still hurts a bit.” He held up his bad arm and stiffly moved it around, wincing a bit. “The pain medicine they gave me works wonders, though. I can barely feel the pain at all.”

“That’s good to hear.”

Andrew finished a tough battle and heaved a sigh of relief, his party having less that 10 hp each. As he hightailed it back to the nearby town, Fox asked a question that had been lingering in both their minds.

“So…What’re you going to do when the war is over?”

Andrew stopped, in game and in reality. “…None of your business.” He said. In truth, he had no idea what he would do or where he would go after the war. If he survived that long, that is.

“Oh come on, I’m not gonna judge. You gonna move to Fortuna? Zoness, maybe?”

“I told you it’s none of your business.” Andrew said more firmly, staring at the screen.

“Well, you should think about it. If Andross keeps this frantic search up, this war is as good as ours. Then we’ll avoid tragedies like the explosion he caused and the Pravoka Massacre.”

Andrew paused and looked over at Fox. Pravoka…That name sounded familiar to him. It was a small military base on Katina that they’d bombed a while back. He was assigned along with Wolf and Pigma to keep things clear in space, even though it was mostly just hovering around waiting for something to happen. Luckily the soldiers didn’t retaliate quick enough. But why was Fox referring to it as a massacre? Was it that one-sided?

“Massacre? That’s a bit…dramatic, don’t you think? There’s what, 500, 700 soldiers there? Nothing compared to the death toll in no man’s space, I heard.”

Fox face twisted into a grimace. He glared at Andrew, making the monkey immediately regret saying what he did. Of course Fox would get upset at that, talking so lightly of that many deaths. Soldiers or no, it was still a lot. “Soldiers? There were no soldiers in Pravoka, Andrew!”

What?

Andrew took a second to process what he’d just heard. “What? No soldiers? But…It was a military base, why would there be no soldiers?” He had a creeping feeling he knew why, and he hoped and prayed he was wrong.

“Military base? Pravoka was a town! A small town full of innocent men, women, and children! What the hell gave you the idea that it was a military base!?” Fox raised his voice. Andrew’s eyes went wide. “They weren’t even on Corneria’s side, they were neutral!”

Andrew felt his stomach lurch as the thought hung in his mind. Pravoka…was a town? A neutral one? But if that was the case, then Andross would have no reason to bomb it, so why would he? It didn’t make sense.

“But…They told us Pravoka was a military base…That they were planning an attack on a nearby satellite!” Andrew stammered. It couldn’t possibly be true. He didn’t want it to be true. If it was…

“Wait, what?” Now it was Fox’s turn to process what he’d heard.

“I was assigned with the others in Star Wolf to defend the satellite in orbit, while the soldiers went planetside to bomb the base! They told us they were bombing a base, not a town!” His voice became more panicked as he went on, trying to figure out which was the truth and which was the lie. He didn’t know what to believe.

“Andross must’ve lied to you, plain and simple.”

“How do you know that?!” Andrew raised his own voice, fearfully clinging to his own denial. If he’d been lied to about Pravoka, who knows what else was a lie? “Wh-what if there was a military base that had the same name or something? Hell, how do I know _you_ aren’t lying to me?”

“Because I’ve seen the damn ruins!” Fox shouted. “I’ve seen what those soldiers did to that town. It wasn’t even an attack, it was just plain murder!”

“Th-there must be some kind of mistake, the soldiers would have seen it was a town before bombing it! They were sent to bomb a military base, they’re not stupid!”

Fox sighed, frustrated at Andrew’s denial. “Alright, fine. If you don’t believe me, I can just show you proof.”

“What are you talking about?”

Fox took a deep breath and tried to calm himself down. “We’re going to Katina to refuel. When we get there, I’m taking you to Pravoka so you can see for yourself.” He said before walking off the clear his head.

Andrew was still thinking about what he’d just heard. It was entirely possible that Fox was trying to lie to him to guilt him into joining Corneria’s side completely, but why would he do that? There was no reason for Fox to lie, and even then…Fox never lied. Even back in the Academy, he was honest to a fault. Even if he was telling the truth, why would Venom bomb a neutral town? Andrew’s mind kept circling back to each question. He took a deep breath and tried to calm down.

There was only one way he was getting a definitive answer. Fox was taking him to Pravoka, so he’d know then. He knew the difference between Venomian bombs and Cornerian bombs, so he’d know the truth just by looking at Pravoka. If it was Corneria, then Fox was lying to him. If it was Venom…He didn’t want to think about that. All he could do was wait.

He turned the game off, unable to play anymore.

——————

“Are you sure about this, Fox?” Peppy asked, looking up from his cup of coffee.

“He has to know.”

“I know he does, but if what he says is true, then there’s probably a ton of things the boy’s been lied to about. Once he realizes that, it ain’t gonna be pretty.” Peppy sipped his coffee. “Still, though. Has Andross really brainwashed his followers like that?”

“Through propaganda and lies, no doubt.” Fox crossed his arms and stared out the bridge window at the slowly approaching planet. “I just want Andrew to realize who his uncle really is.”

“He already did after seeing all them horrid experiments. Do you really need to drive that point home?”

“He didn’t even know about the Pravoka Massacre, Peppy. One of the most infamous tragedies of the Lylat War. If he doesn’t know that, and still denies it, he’s still lying to himself.”

“So you’re gonna drag him to Pravoka’s ruins?”

“Yes.”

“And you don’t see anything about that plan backfiring?”

“What do you mean?” Fox turned to the old hare.

“I mean do you really think the boy can handle it? He’s already in a poor mental state.”

Fox looked away. “I just think he deserves to know the truth.”

“I agree with you. But this isn’t a matter of telling someone their parents lied about Santa. This is an attack he was involved in. It’s going to cut deep.” Peppy said.

Fox sighed. He knew it would hurt Andrew, but he couldn’t let this go. Pravoka was just a normal town that got bombed for no reason, leaving no survivors. When he’d heard Andrew’s denial, it struck a nerve with him. He wondered how many children felt the same pain he felt when their fathers died in the Pravoka Massacre as he did when his own father was killed by Andross. He wanted to make Andrew see the truth, but now he was afraid that would only make things worse.

Even so, there was no turning back now. He had to do this.

——————

Andrew felt the ship shake as they entered the planet’s atmosphere. Tension rose in his gut as he worried about what he may find. When the shaking slowed to a halt, he got out of bed and looked out of the small window, seeing the rocky plains of Katina. He gazed at the splashes of green and the tall mountains, hoping the scenery would distract him from his worry. It didn’t help much at all.

Shortly after the jolt of landing, Fox came to his cell. “Hey. You ready?”

“No, but I don’t really have a choice here, do I?” Andrew muttered. Fox was silent for a moment.

Peppy’s words rung in Fox’s mind. The vulpine showed only a moment of hesitation before sighing. “Yes, you do.”

Andrew turned around, only to see a strangely caring expression on Fox’s face. He felt a wave of nostalgia, realizing that he hadn’t seen that look in Fox’s eye since the Academy.

“Look, I know what I said, but…It’s your choice if you want to see the ruins or not.” Fox said.

Andrew had to stop himself from chuckling. After all this time, Fox was still the same indecisive dork he always was. Even back then, he’d drag Andrew places and just before going in, only then would he ask Andrew if he wanted to or not.

“Well, I came this far. You got me too curious anyway.” Andrew said, giving Fox a small smile. For some reason…he didn’t feel as worried as before.

Fox nodded and turned the laser grid off. “For safety reasons, you’ll have to stay next to me the whole time. Try to run, and Falco will get some target practice.” He said, going back to his stiffer, business-like tone.

“Oh, really? You’re not gonna shoot me? My, if I didn’t know any better, I’d say you’re starting to like me.” He teased.

Fox looked away and cleared his throat. “J-just get moving, we don’t have all day.”

“Alright, alright.” Andrew said, smiling. “I’m guessing you’ll want to walk behind me, huh?”

“Of course.” Fox said.

 _Oh my god, he makes it too easy._ Andrew thought. He gave a little smirk. “Okay. Just keep your eyes up and forward.”

He saw Fox’s ears turn pink as the vulpine became more flustered. “That’s not what- I wasn’t going to- Just move it!” He stammered. Andrew couldn’t help but let out a little chuckle. Still just the same. He thought. Back then, it didn’t take that long to figure out which way Fox swung. After getting a hold of such valuable information, Andrew started teasing and joking with Fox, always making him flustered. He wished he could just stay right here, keep messing with Fox like he used to. But a cold claw pulled at his heart, reminding him of what he had to face next. His smile faded.

——————

As the hangar doors opened and the hot Katina air poured in, only one thought hung in Andrew’s head.

_I’m not ready for this._

Fox stood beside him, arms folded with a stern expression on his face. Peppy looked down at the both of them from the higher platform, wearing an expression that was just as unreadable as Fox’s. Falco was leaning against a wall, trying way to hard to look cool, blaster in hand. He was staring daggers at Andrew. The frog was nowhere to be seen.

When the hangar door opened fully and his eyes adjusted to the bright light, he and Fox walked out of the hangar and onto the Katinan soil. Looking forward, all he could see were rocky planes and mountainsides. To his left, the same thing, and to his right…

…Was the destroyed remains of a small town.

Andrew felt his blood turn to ice. It really was a town. Not a single military facility in sight. The buildings which used to house people going about their daily lives were all broken down, some completely collapsed. Homes, cafes, stores, all of them were destroyed. The ground was burned black wherever bombs were dropped, and the roads were cracked and ruined.

“Come on.” Fox said solemnly, walking toward the ruins.

Andrew’s feet felt heavier than steel. Every step he took that brought him closer to the town felt harder to take. The overwhelming silence surrounded him as the two approached. They followed the road, minding the debris as they went, until they were about a half mile from the town. There, Andrew saw something that completely shattered any denial he had before. There was a sign, broken and dirty, that read:

_Welcome to Pravoka, the Town of Miracles! Population: 7,000 and growing!_

Welcome to Pravoka. Pravoka. It was right there. Plain to see. The very same name that was listed as a military base in his mission file. The weight of all of it came crashing down on him as he stared at the sign, reading the town’s name over and over and over. Pravoka. Pravoka. Pravoka. Population 7,000. 7,000 people dead. 7,000 innocent people.

“Andrew?” Fox’s voice broke the silence. He hadn’t realized Andrew had fallen behind, and when he’d turned around, he saw the ape staring at the town’s greeting sign. His ears lowered when he saw the monkey’s face, frozen with shock and despair.

The ape felt like he was going to vomit. He couldn’t deny any of it anymore, since the evidence was right there in front of him. And he helped it happen. Their blood was on his hands. He slowly turned toward Fox, on the verge of breaking down.

“Fox…” His weak, quivering voice called out to his old friend. He took a deep breath and swallowed, steeling himself. He still had a long way to go. “L-let’s go…” Andrew took a few steps toward the town, only to be stopped by Fox, who grabbed his arm.

“Whoa, whoa, wait a minute. Are you sure you can do this?” Fox asked, his voice becoming more sympathetic. He began to regret forcing Andrew to come here, the devastation on his face was clear to see.

“I-I’m fine.” He lied. He wasn’t fine. He could practically feel the hatred from all the departed souls directed towards him, the innocents begging for his soul to be dragged to hell.

“Andrew, you’re shaking like a leaf, maybe we should go back.”

“No.” Andrew said, louder than he meant to, making the vulpine flinch. He could hear his voice echo back at him in the empty air. He took a deep breath and spoke quieter. “No…I have to do this, Fox.”

Fox sighed, but gave in. “Alright. If…there’s anything I can do to help, let me know.”

Andrew wanted to refuse, to mouth off and tell Fox not to patronize him. But instead, he asked one request.

“…Don’t let go.”

Fox didn’t even realize he was still holding onto Andrew’s arm, but he did as he asked and kept his grip firm.

As the two ventured into the ruined town, Andrew focused on the feeling of Fox’s grip. It was as firm as a soldier’s handshake, yet still gentle and comforting. His hand almost completely wrapped around his arm, god, had he really become so thin? He used that grip like an anchor keeping him from breaking. The ape gazed around at the destruction. Seeing it up close, he analyzed the burn marks and impact zones of the bombs. He recognized the pattern immediately as his heart sank to his gut. 

They were Venomian.

That settled it. Completely. Everything Fox told him was true. Venom bombed an innocent, neutral town that they had no reason to bomb. The satellite he was ordered to defend was never in any danger. That’s why no resistance came. Why every single ship came back in pristine condition. Why no one came to attack the satellite at all. All he had to do was go planetside and he would have seen the truth. Instead, he did what he was told. He was a good little boy and stayed where he was, ignoring the burning instinct to do otherwise. He had done exactly what Andross had wanted him to do.

Andrew felt Fox’s grip on his arm tighten slightly, pulling him from his thoughts. He looked at Fox, the vulpine’s eyes staring straight ahead. Andrew followed his gaze and saw a school, or what was left of it anyway.

His eyes widened as he examined the ruins further. The school’s name was lost in the rubble, but he could make out an “M,” and “I,” and two “D’s.” A middle school. Children were going about their normal classes when Venom attacked. And from the looks of the direct impacts, the laser burns, the severe destruction that was worse than the surrounding rubble…They aimed specifically for the school.

His despair bubbled up into anger, the feeling boiling his frozen blood. He feel to his knees, his arm slipping from Fox’s grasp, as he clenched his teeth, his gaze locked on what his former comrades had done. He burned the image into his mind, finally understanding who his real enemy was. How many other towns like this one had they destroyed? How many innocent lives had they claimed? 

Andrew squeezed his eyes shut, his anger bubbling over and bursting forth. This time, he made no effort to bottle his emotions. No effort to hide himself. He simply let it flow forth, a loud, piercing yell of anger erupting from his mouth. It echoed through the silent town, almost as if it were screaming along with him. He punched the ground in anger.

Fox’s ears pulled back from the sudden noise. “A-Andrew!? Hey, hey, get a hold of yourself!” Fox exclaimed.

“How many!?”

“What?”

“How many other towns ended up like this!?” Andrew shouted.

Fox paused for a moment, then sighed and gave him the truth. “After the reports kept coming in, I lost count. It’s likely over 100 now.”

Andrew didn’t say anything. He just clenched his fist and stood up, his anger quelled by his outburst.

“Fox.” He said, calmly. “Are you…still my friend?”

The question caught him off guard. Still his friend? After two years of being bitter enemies? His mind told him to say obviously not, but Fox’s heart took control instead. “…Yeah.”

“And you wouldn’t lie to a friend, right?”

“Of course not.” Fox said.

“So everything you’ve said to me up to this point…it’s all true? You swear it?”

Fox couldn’t help but feel a warm light of hope inside. “I swear.”

Andrew looked down. He was as quiet as the ghostly town around them.

“Andrew?”

“Let’s go back to the ship. I’ve seen enough.” Andrew said, his voice quiet.

Fox nodded and walked Andrew back to the ship.

——————

Andrew stared out the window at the starry sky. For hours now he’d been sitting on his bed, thinking about what he’d just seen. There was no doubt, Andross’s forces attacked Pravoka and killed everyone. Even children. Every shred of doubt he had, all the denial he clung to was gone. There was no way he could defend or rationalize his uncle’s actions. He swore he would never go back to Venom or Star Wolf. To make sure the temptation would never arise, he decided he needed to do something. Something that broke the last remaining mental chains of Venom on his mind.

He waited for about an hour for someone to pass by his cell. Falco was the first, shooting him a fierce glare that Andrew returned with a middle finger. _No way in hell he’d help me. Gotta wait for someone else._

Eventually, Slippy passed by. Perfect.

“Hey, Slippy.” He said, his tone darker than he meant it to be.

“Huh?” Slippy stopped and walked over. “Hey, Andrew. I heard about Pravoka. Are you doing alright?”

“I’m…Fine.” Andrew lied. “I need you to do me a favor.” He was taking a big chance with this. He was still on thin ice with most of the team. “Can you turn the bars off? Just for a bit? There’s something I have to do.”

Slippy fidgeted with his fingers. “Uhhhh, I don’t think I can do that, Andrew…”

“Slippy, please. It’s important. I’ll take the heat if you get in trouble. Throw me under the bus, okay?” Andrew said desperately.

Slippy hesitated for a good half minute, but then turned the bars off. “Okay, Andrew. I trust you. Just…Don’t break anything, okay? And try not to let Falco see you or your tail is toast.”

Andrew nodded. “Thank you, Slippy. I just need one more thing.”

“Uh-huh?”

“Where is my Star Wolf uniform?”

——————

It didn’t take long to find the uniform. Peppy had cleaned and folded it neatly in the laundry room, making sure to take good care of it. After all, it didn’t matter if someone was a mercenary or a soldier, their uniform was one of their most important belongings.

The uniform of a soldier or mercenary was almost like a flag. It was distinct, identifiable. Something that people took pride in. Even when a soldier defects to their enemy’s side, they’re encouraged to take care of their old uniform, regardless of its origin. Any battle damage is supposed to be fixed as soon as possible, and if a uniform is ruined beyond repair, the material is salvaged and used to make an exact replica or a completely new one. To let anything bad happen to one’s uniform outside of battle is seen as a great offense.

And that was just what Andrew was going to do.

If he wanted to be free of his mental torment, he needed to purge any possibility of returning. That meant committing one of the ultimate acts of treason. Burning his uniform. Something even the strongest of soldiers would have difficulty doing. After what he’d seen, however, he knew he had the resolve to go through with the act. He made his way to the hangar, making sure nobody saw him. As he passed by the kitchen, he took a box of matches with him.

The hangar was cold, the Katinan night chilling the air. Sometime, Andrew couldn’t remember when, the Great Fox had flown from Pravoka to the outskirts of a nearby city. The Arwings were hung high up, ready to fly at a moment’s notice. As Andrew passed by, he observed the ships that had shot him down so many times. It seemed rather fitting that these ships be the sole witnesses of his treason.

He grabbed a can of gasoline and stepped onto the Katinan ground. He unceremoniously tossed his uniform on the ground, then poured the gas on it. Just as he put the can down, he heard a voice.

“Andrew?”

He turned around and saw Fox standing in the hangar. The vulpine walked over to him, but he didn’t go for his blaster. “What are you doing? How’d you get out of the cell?”

Andrew looked away from him. “I was just getting some fresh air. Go away.”

“Andrew, I saw you take your uniform. You’re not going back are you?” Fox’s voice was…almost somber. As if he didn’t want Andrew to go.

“No!” Andrew said, firm and loud. He saw Fox flinch and softened his tone. “Don’t even…Don’t even suggest that.”

“Then tell me. What’s going on?” Fox asked gently.

“…Take a guess.” Andrew gestured to his uniform, then held up the matches.

Fox let out a small gasp of shock, his expression one of concern and surprise. “Andrew, you’re not going to… _burn_ it are you?”

Andrew turned away, walking closer to the uniform. “I need to do this, Fox. Or else…I’ll never move on. You asked me what I wanted to do after the war…I’m making sure that whatever it is, there’ll be no going back to Venom or Star Wolf.”

Fox took a small step forward, disbelief striking him silent.

“Thank you for showing me the truth, Fox. It’s because of you that…I don’t have any doubts anymore. I know who the enemy is, and I’m never turning back.”

Fox stood next to Andrew. He gave him a smile. “I’m happy to hear that, Andrew. I really am.” Fox said. “But even so…You don’t have to do this. It’s something you can’t take back. That uniform…” Fox began.

“I know, Fox.” Andrew said. He took out a match and lit it. “But I’m not going to change my mind.” He held up the match, and took a deep breath. 

“Goodbye, Uncle Andross. Rot in Hell.”

He tossed the match onto the uniform, the gasoline igniting and bursting into flames. Both Andrew and Fox watched the fire. Every thread that burned was another chain on Andrew’s mind broken.

While the fire burned away all his loyalty to his uncle and Venom, the weight of his crimes still began to weigh heavily on him. He thought about all the people that died because of his actions. All the people in Pravoka…How many would have been saved if he’d tried to stop the attack? How many would be alive today if he hadn’t been so foolish and discovered his uncles true nature sooner? 

He felt a hand rest on his shoulder. “You okay, Andrew?” Fox asked. Andrew didn’t say anything. He just turned toward Fox and leaned on him, his head resting on Fox’s shoulder. Fox was caught of guard, but he let his old friend lean on him, knowing he needed comfort now more than ever.

“…I’m sorry…” Andrew muttered, his voice almost a whisper.

“What?”

“I’m sorry, Fox…I was stupid…” Andrew said somberly. “So, so stupid…”

“There’s no way you could’ve known.” Fox said.

“How could I have let him fool me…? I thought…I actually thought he was a good person…” Andrew sighed.

“He fooled everyone, Andrew.” Fox said softly.

“I just…” Andrew trailed off. Fox waited patiently for him to go on. “I just thought he was a good man…I don’t know when he changed…Or if he was ever even good in the first place…”

“We all did, back then. He was a brilliant man, but no one knows when things went wrong.”

“If he lied about Pravoka and the experiments…What else did he lie about? How much of my life has been a lie…!?” Andrew’s voice grew louder. Thoughts swirled around in his head like a raging storm. Before he could get too upset and frantic, a strong arm wrapped around him. The surging storm quelled as the two silently embraced each other.

The minutes passed away as Fox held his friend, the fire dying out and leaving only ashes. His heart was heavy, but he could only imagine the unbearable weight on Andrew’s. The monkey had calmed down, but he was trembling. His eyes traveled from the burnt remains of his former enemy’s uniform to the Katinan landscape. They had moved on from Pravoka and landed near the city of New Katina City. The lights illuminated the sky, tempting any who stared to a night of debauchery. That same temptation gave Fox an idea.

“Hey,” Fox said, looking down at Andrew. “I think I know what’ll help cheer you up.”

“…What?” Andrew looked up at Fox, who pointed toward the bright city in the distance.

“The city? What about it?”

Fox grinned and mimicked Andrew’s “cool guy” attitude from back in the Academy. “No, no, no, my friend, not a city…A playground.”

Andrew couldn’t help but smile and let out a small laugh. “Really? I thought I wasn’t supposed to leave the ship?” He asked with a raised eyebrow.

“We already broke that rule. I think we can break a few more, too.” Fox gave him a sly wink.

“And what if someone recognizes me?”

Fox shrugged. “It’s a neutral city. They probably won’t care if they recognize you. And if they do care, uh…We can make something up.”

Andrew laughed a bit more. He was grinning so wide that his laugh came out like “Ihihihi,” a cute high-pitched laugh that oddly made Fox’s heart flutter. He hadn’t heard Andrew laugh like that since he had a crush on him back then. “Alright, Fox.” Andrew said with a smile. “It’s a date.”

It took a good three seconds for Andrew to realize what he’d said. His mind went ballistic. _Why did you say that, why did you say that, you know he tried to kiss you why would you joke about that you’ll break his heart again WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU-_

Fox laughed a bit, interrupting Andrew’s panicked thoughts. “A date, huh? Would this be a “date”, or a date date?” He asked.

“Uh, it-uh…It would be a date? N-not a date date, the first date. Wait no, that’s not right, it’s uh…” Andrew stumbled over his words, his face glowing as bright as the lights behind him.

Fox laughed again and patted him on the back. “Relax, pal, I’m just messing with you! I know what you meant.” Fox said.

“You jerk.” Andrew said jokingly, giving Fox a jab in the arm.

Fox just grinned and turned to the door. “Come on, everyone should be asleep by now. Let’s sneak into my room and get you something warmer to wear, Katinan nights aren’t exactly toasty.”

Andrew grinned, liking the idea of trying not to get caught while sneaking around again. “Alright. But you have to make up a cover story if we get caught.”

“Deal.”

The two snuck back through the Great Fox and got Andrew a bright red hoodie with some dark blue jeans while Fox changed into some more casual garb, a simple green t-shirt with a leather jacket and a pair of lighter jeans. They made sure to keep quiet as the tiptoed through the quiet ship and out the hangar again.

Andrew took one last look at the ashes that used to be his uniform, then walked with Fox toward the bustling city.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> After a long wait, here's Chapter 7! This one took a long time to write for multiple reasons, but I hope you will enjoy it!
> 
> Thank you all so much for your sweet comments and kudos! They've helped motivate me and kept me from giving up whenever I hit a roadblock, so thank you all so much for your kindness!
> 
> Enjoy the chapter!

What was he doing? Just minutes before, Andrew had been burning away the last remaining tie he had to Venom and his uncle in the ultimate act of treason, and now here he was; Walking through the brightly lit streets of New Katina City as if they were two sneaky teenagers back in the Academy. It was both nostalgic and strange, but Andrew had to admit that Fox’s attempt at cheering him up was working.

“So, what do you have planned?” Andrew asked. He had pulled his hood over his head in order to hide his identity, but also because he’d forgotten just how cold Katina could get at night. 

“Well…I was hoping something would catch our eyes after a while.” Fox said, looking around. The streets of New Katina City were bustling, even at this hour. Men and women alike were crowding the illuminated night city as if it were still daytime, and the streets were just as busy. New Katina City really was one of Lylat’s “sleepless cities.”

“So what you’re saying is you have no plan. That’s kind of funny, coming from you.” Andrew teased with a cheeky grin on his face.

“Oh, come on, it’s not like I come here often!” Fox said. “Alright then, you pick something.”

Andrew looked around. There were shops, restaurants, and more just on this one block. So much to choose from, and they had all night to pick. “Hmm…I don’t know. We could try to sneak into a movie.” Andrew said. Back then, they’d always sneak into movies, some nights they’d see multiple movies for free just because the employees didn’t care.

“Let’s try to stay within the law, Andrew.” Fox said with a grin.

“Well, it’s not like I can buy a ticket!” Andrew pulled out his empty pockets. Fox just chuckled.

“Why don’t we just start by finding a place to eat? And don’t sweat the money, I have enough.” Fox said, patting his pocket.

“Well if you insist…Filet mignon it is!” Andrew joked.

“Whoa, whoa, hey, hold on, nothing too fancy now! We spend too much in one place, the night’ll be too short!”

“Chill, I’m just kidding. I could go for some good burgers though.” Andrew said, glancing around. He saw a fast food joint and pointed it out. “How about there?”

“Fast food? Come on, we can at least get something better than that. Let’s find a nice cafe or something.” Fox said. The two walked down a couple blocks before finding a small restaurant called Oasis Grille.

“Oasis Grille, huh? I think I heard about them before.” Fox said as they walked in. “One of Falco’s friends, Katt Monroe? She said that this place is really good.”

The restaurant was very nice, and the two could smell the delicious aroma of cooked meat from the door. The lights bathed the dining area in a soft yellow light, the wooden tables and decor making for a very calming and classic atmosphere. Fox didn’t take too much note of it, but Andrew felt like he was in another world. He hadn’t realized how much he’d become accustomed to dingy industrial interiors until now. All the frigates he’d been on, his Wolfen, Venomian bases, the Fortunan base, the Great Fox…He’d become rather sick of metal walls and floors. A strange feeling of nostalgia washed over him as he walked with Fox across the soft carpet. Come to think of it, he hadn’t been in an actual restaurant in years. Only crappy military cafeterias.

A chirpy canary girl showed the two to their table, a small booth with comfy seats. She gave them their menus and walked away.

“Man, this place is pretty nice, huh?” Fox said, picking up his menu.

“Yeah, it is. Can’t remember the last time I walked on carpet.” Andrew said with a chuckle.

“Really? There’s no carpet on Venom?” Fox said.

Andrew tensed up and glanced around, making sure no one heard Fox. “Not so loud…But no. Not really. Just either metal or whatever ground the soldiers set up camp on. We were lucky if we even got grass.”

“Sounds rough. Corneria’s kinda the same, but the whole metal only thing is just on ships. Captain’s quarters usually have carpet.” Fox said.

“Uh-huh. Higher ranks have perks, don’t they.” Andrew said dryly.

Fox shrugged. He could tell Andrew still wasn’t to keen on Corneria, so he opted to change the subject by looking through the menu. “Think you know what you want?”

“I…don’t really know. It’s been a long time since I’ve been to a restaurant.” Andrew scanned the menu, nothing really sticking out. He tried to remember what his usual order was, but he drew a blank. He learned really quick that he couldn’t really afford to be picky as a member of Star Wolf, so he forgot his picky eating habits. Now that he was given a choice, he was a bit overwhelmed with the options.

“Want me to pick for you?” Fox offered.

Andrew thought it over for a bit, then put his menu down. “Oh, what the hell. Surprise me.”

Fox grinned and thought back to when they used to sneak out like this, a bit surprised at how quickly he remembered Andrew’s order. It was always the same at burger joints. A classic burger medium rare, lettuce, tomato, cheese, mustard. Then he’d always put some extra salt and pepper on the meat when he got it. 

Just as Fox picked out what he wanted, a sweet old lynx woman came to their table. “Hello there, hon. How are ya’ll doing tonight?”

“Doing alright.” Fox said with a smile.

“I’m Tawna, and I’ll be your server tonight. Can I get you two lovely boys something to drink?” She asked kindly.

“Cola for me, orange soda for him.” Fox said, grinning at Andrew, who remembered that orange soda was his favorite drink. Andrew was a bit surprised he actually forgot, and Fox remembered.

Tawna took out a notepad and wrote down their drinks. “Alright, and are ya’ll ready to order or do you need a few minutes?”

“We’re ready.” Fox said. “I’ll have a bacon cheeseburger with extra onions and no tomatoes,” Fox began.

“Would you like fries with that?” Tawna asked, writing his order. “And how would you like your burger done?”

“Actually,” Fox glanced at the menu, “I’ll take the onion rings instead. Well done, please. And for him, let’s see…” Fox glanced at Andrew and gave him a wink before continuing. “A classic burger, done medium rare, with lettuce, tomato, cheese, and mustard. Side of fries and extra salt and pepper.” As Fox said the order, Andrew’s face grew a light pink. He’d completely forgotten all his old regular orders, yet Fox remembered them perfectly, despite never ordering them himself. He didn’t know why, but…Andrew was flattered.

“Alright! I’ll get those right out for ya!” Tawna said, giving the two a pleasant smile before walking off.

Andrew stared at Fox and smiled awkwardly. “So…You actually remembered my old order?”

“You did always get the same thing. How could I forget?” Fox chuckled. “Wait, did _you_ forget?”

“I haven’t been to a restaurant in years, of course I forgot!”

The two talked aimlessly about nothing before Tawna returned with their drinks. After they thanked her and she left, Fox decided to try and get to know Andrew a little. After all, even when they roomed together, Andrew didn’t talk about his personal life all that much. Tons of boasting about shallow things like how much money he had and how great he was, but nothing too deep.

“Well, now that our “date” has truly begun,” Fox joked, “I think we should get to know each other better, eh?”

Andrew could feel his cheeks heat up. He looked away and muttered, “S-stop calling it a date, would ya? And why do we need to? It’s not like I have anything important to tell you.”

“Oh, come on! Back in the Academy, you were always going on and on about how rich your parents were, tell me about them! What were they like?”

Andrew was ready to give Fox a dismissive answer, but when he looked at him, he looked like a little kid. Fox had his head resting on his hands, propped up by his elbows. He had a dumb smile on his face. Andrew sighed and looked out the window. Dammit, he was cute. “I…Couldn’t tell you even if I wanted to.”

“Oh, were they always working?”

“You know what, I wish that was the reason.” Andrew scoffed and looked back at Fox. “My dad was a piece of shit and my mom was a waste of oxygen.”

Fox furrowed his eyebrows. That was certainly a hostile way of describing his parents. “Whoa…Surely they weren’t _that_ bad, right? I mean, they are your parents…”

“No, they were.” Andrew moved his gaze down to his soda. “Dad only cared about our _family image_. Mom only cared about how much liquor we had left.”

“Family image? What, like photos?” Fox asked.

Andrew shook his head. “Reputation. How we looked to everyone else.” Andrew poked at the ice in his drink with the straw. “If I stepped out of line or did anything loud or rambunctious? Punishment. Wore the wrong clothes to a party? Punishment. Said the wrong thing? Punishment. I even got punished for getting _too many As in school_.”

Fox’s jaw dropped. “Wait, for too many As? That’s ridiculous! My dad would buy pizza if I got that many! Why would he punish you for that?”

“Your guess is as good as mine, he never told me why I got punished.” Andrew pushed one of his ice cubes down into his drink. “Always accused me of cheating. Bastard.”

Fox wondered what Andrew meant by punishment. He was almost afraid to ask. “He didn’t…Hit you, did he?”

“No. That would hurt the family image.” He said sarcastically. “Just yelled a lot and broke things to make a point.” Andrew stopped playing with his ice. “He only hit me once, and that was when I told him I wanted to find out about my uncle.”

“You mean…Andross?”

“Yeah. I saw his name come up in some older news articles, so I started asking about him. Dad told me to shut up and never say that name again, and when I kept on asking,” Andrew smacked his palm with the back of his hand. “He slapped me.”

Fox tilted his head. “Wait…why did he not want you to say Andross’s name?”

Andrew shifted uncomfortably. He knew why. Even though his father never told him, he very well knew why. Venomian mercenaries had very loose tongues when it came to people’s pasts.

“Andrew?”

“…He killed a woman on Corneria.” Andrew said. “Blew her up in a car.”

Fox felt his heart sink like a stone in the ocean. “…My mother.”

“Yeah. Heard it from a few mercenaries, so the details are loose, but…Apparently Andross had a thing for her, and tried to kill your father, but…She got killed instead.”

Fox was quiet. He remembered that day vividly. His mother’s car had broken down, and she was panicking about how she was going to get to work. His father let her use his car, but when she got in and started it…

“…Sorry.” Andrew said, regretting even bringing it up.

“Don’t be.” Fox said. “They found out who killed her after the explosion at the laboratory. After his exile, there was an investigation conducted on his property, and they found the plans, the bombs, everything. His exile was extended indefinitely after that.”

“That…Must’ve been hard to hear.” Andrew said. He remembered how he felt when he first learned about the murder. He went straight into denial. When Andross was exiled, he was still in middle school. Every bit of research he did misguided him into thinking Andross was wrongly exiled, when in reality Corneria had every reason to do so. Even now he found it hard to swallow.

“It was. I wasn’t supposed to know until I was older than I was, but I overheard the general talking to my dad.” Fox said. “I’ve hated Andross ever since.” He added with a growl.

After a short pause, Andrew asked, “Why didn’t you hate me?”

“Huh?”

“The Academy. When we first met. You must have known I was his nephew. Why didn’t you hate me?”

“What kind of question is that?” Fox said, his voice softening. “You didn’t have anything to do with it. You were just a kid when it happened. You’re, what, five years younger than me? You were still in diapers when my mom died.”

Fox’s words made Andrew realize how dumb of a question that was. He was right, he had nothing to do with the murder. He couldn’t have. He was two years old.

So why had that question always bubbled up to the surface? Maybe his father was rubbing off on him. Andross’s actions were a stain on their family image, and his father resented that. Then took that resentment out on Andrew. Of course, after Andross was banished and his crimes were made public, Andrew began having violent threats and spiteful words thrown his way. From that day forward, Corneria hated Andross and the Oikonny name, which included Andrew. In turn, Andrew hated Corneria as well.

But why? Why did they hate him then? He had nothing to do with his uncle, but he still had complete strangers wishing him dead. Back then, he didn’t even know why.

“You’re right.” Andrew said. “I didn’t have anything to do with it. I didn’t even know who my uncle was until after he was exiled. But…” Andrew paused. “…Everyone still hated me. Why didn’t you?”

“I just don’t believe that “sins of the father” crap.” Fox said. “I hate Andross, but I don’t hate you. Related or not, you two are very different.”

“What about all the people I’ve killed?” Andrew asked quietly.

Fox raised an eyebrow. “Andrew, do you know how many confirmed hits we have on record for you?”

“No?”

“Nothing but drones.”

“…What?”

“Unmanned aircraft. Drones. You’ve shot down a lot of them, over 150 last time I checked. But still zero pilots.” Fox said.

Andrew just stared in disbelief. All those ships he got lucky with and shot down…were actually drones? That means the only person he’d killed with his own two hands was…That guard when he escaped. His only confirmed kill was a Venomian soldier. Upon reflecting on that, his disbelief quickly turned to embarrassment. “Oh my god…” He pulled his hood over his blushing face.

“It’s actually kind of a running joke with the Cornerian soldiers, they call you the “baddest good boy” if I remember right.” Fox said, grinning. God, he was so cute when he was embarrassed.

“Shut up, shut up, shut uuuuup…” He groaned. He knew he was a bad pilot, but bad enough to only shoot down _drones_? Those things were supposed to be child’s play! He could hear Fox’s giggles and he couldn’t help but join in. Fox’s laugh was just too infectious.

After taking a few sips of his drink, Fox poked the top of Andrew’s head. “Alright, so I’ve heard about all the shitty family members you got. Were there any that you actually liked?”

Andrew looked up and smiled. He fully expected talking about his family to put him in a bad mood, but somehow…Telling it to Fox wasn’t so bad. Something about him was just comforting. He sat up and pulled the hood back off. “Well, there was one. My aunt.”

“Your aunt? What was she like? Was she sweet?” Fox asked, just as interested as he was earlier.

Andrew had to stifle a laugh. “Sweet? Oh, hell no. ‘Butch’ is more accurate.” Andrew said. “She’s 350 pounds of badass.”

“Butch? 350 pounds?” Fox got an image in his mind of a large bodied snow monkey with a mean looking face. 

“Don’t get the wrong idea, Fox. She’s not fat, she’s a gorilla. Those 350 pounds? _All muscle_. She could punch a hole in solid rock if she tried.” Andrew said, grinning. His voice was pure sunshine when he talked about his aunt.

That image in Fox’s mind immediately shattered, making him a bit embarrassed that he jumped to conclusions like that. But still, a 350 pound female gorilla? They averaged around 150 or 250, not 350. If that was all muscle, then that was one powerful woman. “She sounds interesting. What’s her name?”

“Laura.” Andrew said.

“Laura, huh? I’d love to meet her someday.” Fox said with a grin.

“Oh, she’d love you. She likes to mess with nice guys who love following rules.” Andrew teased.

“Ha! I see where you get it from, then!” Fox laughed, Andrew joining in.

“So, if you don’t mind me asking,” Fox began, “If you’re aunt is a gorilla, does any of that affect you? Like, DNA-wise?”

Andrew shrugged. “Eh, it might, it might not. My grandmother on my mother’s side was a pure Fichinan snow monkey and my grandfather was a Fortunan gorilla. So when my mom and aunt were born, aunt Laura was a gorilla with a few snow monkey features, and my mom was almost completely snow monkey. I think the gorilla traits skipped her generation and maybe mine.”

“Maybe?”

“Well, sometimes the gorilla trait comes in later in life. For example, by age 30, I might be twice my size. Gorilla hybrids are usually late bloomers when it comes to growth spurts, later than any other species in Lylat.” Andrew explained. As he went on, he noticed a strange look on Fox’s face. He had such a dorky grin and his eyes were practically sparkling. “What?”

“Oh, sorry,” Fox’s ears turned red. “It’s just…I don’t know, I just like hearing you talk about stuff. Where did you learn all of that?”

Andrew’s face heated up, but he just smiled and shrugged, pretending he wasn’t turning fifty shades of red. “I dunno, just studying, I guess? I got interested when I learned about my grandparents, so I got a book on ape genetics from the library one day.”

As the two continued to talk, the server came back with their food. “Sorry about the wait, darlings! Here you are.” She said, placing their food in front of them.

“Thank you.” Fox said.

“You’re welcome, dear! By the way, one of the girls wanted to know, are you that Andrew Oikonny fellow? The one related to Andross that died in a ship crash about a month back?” She asked. Her tone was still pleasant, if a bit inquisitive.

Fox began to sweat, but Andrew just rolled his eyes. “No, she’s thinking of my brother. My name’s Anthony.” 

“Now, see, I told that girl she had it wrong. I didn’t know he had a brother.”

“Twin brother actually. Only difference between us is this scar.” He pointed to the scar on his head he’d gotten back when he crashed his ship. “We never really got along though, so we went separate a few years back. He started working for Andross, and I tried to get into the Cornerian army. Failed miserably, but tried.” Andrew said. His tone was so natural, so even, Fox was convinced that Andrew was a natural liar. He wasn’t surprised, Andrew had thought up tons of cover stories for them when they snuck out back in the Academy.

“Oh, my. Twins torn apart by differing views, poor dears. I’m sorry for your loss.”

“Don’t even. He had it coming.” Andrew said. “After everything that happened, he just stood by and did nothing. Completely ignored everything. I think he either just didn’t care or was a complete idiot. I mean, Andross is obviously crazy. He ruined his life all in some vain attempt to get our uncle to notice his so-called _genius_. I hope he died slowly and painfully. Stupid son of a-” Andrew cut himself off when he saw Fox’s face. His ears were lowered, and there was deep concern in his eyes. 

“Goodness. I didn’t realize there was so much bad blood between you two.”

“Y-yeah. Well, can’t change the past. His death doesn’t affect me all that much anyway. Uh, thanks for the food.”

“You’re welcome dear.”

After the server walked away, Andrew started to dig in, but Fox sat completely still. Andrew looked up from his burger. He pretended not to know exactly why Fox was worried. “You, uh…gonna eat? It’ll get cold if you don’t start chowing down.”

“So, we’re not going to talk about what you just said?” Fox said slowly.

“Nope. Too hungry.” Andrew said, grabbing a handful of fries.

“Uh-huh.” Fox said, unconvinced. “Look, Andrew. Buddy. I don’t care if you were committing to the act or whatever, I really wish you’d stop being so hard on yourself.”

Andrew felt a strange warmth from Fox’s words. He avoided eye contact and stared out the window, hoping his cheeks weren’t giving that warmth away. “W-Whatever, Fox. You can’t say this douchebag doesn’t deserve it.” He said, pointing at himself.

“I can and I will.” Fox said.

“Oh, really?” Andrew leaned back. “You gonna be my therapist now?”

“Nope, but Peppy will be if you keep it up.” Fox wore a smirk on his face now.

“What? No, you wouldn’t.” Andrew scoffed. “…Would you?”

“Only if it keeps happening.” Fox raised an eyebrow.

“Oh, you sly fox.” Andrew grinned. “Fine, fine. I’ll lay off myself, I guess.”

“Good.” Fox nodded and started eating.

“Just out of curiosity…” Andrew began, crossing his arms. “What is so good about me to you?”

Fox started counting on his fingers. “Loyal, funny, dorky, cute, _extremely_ smart, need I go on?”

“No, no, I got it, I got it. Damn, you really love feeding my ego, huh? And here I was thinking that thing died a month ago.” Andrew said, putting up a smirk. Just below the surface, however, he was hung up on what Fox said. Specifically, one single word. _Cute_. Fox had called him cute right to his face. What did that mean? Was there still hope for Andrew to possibly date him?

Don’t even think about it. His mind scolded. He had to agree with himself. Fox was a great guy, but it wasn’t like he was _in love_ with him. Besides, if he pursued Fox, they’d probably just have one night together, then break up two days later, like all of his Venomian boyfriends. While he did find Fox’s body type alluring, and if it were anyone else, he’d be totally fine with a one night stand…

…For some reason, Andrew just couldn’t do that to Fox. Not to the first friend he’d ever had.

——————

“Hey! Peppy! Open up!” Falco shouted as he banged on the rabbit’s door.

Peppy groaned and looked up from his book. What could that boy possibly want at this hour? He was usually out like a light by now. He sounded distressed, too. _I swear, if he broke another goddamn controller…_

Peppy put down his book and opened the door, seeing the panicked expression on his avian comrade. “What is it, Falco? It’s the middle of the night.” Peppy said. He pointed to his nightgown as if it wasn’t obvious he was trying to get to sleep.

“It’s Andrew! He’s gone!”

That woke the hare right up.

“Gone? What do you mean? He ain’t in his cell?”

Falco shook his head. “He ain’t in his cell and the bars were turned off. I can’t find Fox anywhere either!”

“What!?” Peppy immediately sprang into action, running past Falco toward Fox’s room. He didn’t even bother to knock before opening the door. “Fox!? Fox!” Nothing. He dashed to the bridge, then to the kitchen, the reactor room, the storage room, everywhere. His vulpine captain was nowhere to be found. What was worse, Peppy checked the laundry room and saw a particular uniform missing.

“That son of a bitch.” Peppy growled, typing away on the bridge’s computer. He didn’t want to believe it. He actually began to trust the monkey. He lent him an ear when he was troubled and talked him through his issues, and this was the thanks he got?

“I told Fox not to trust him, and what happens? He betrays us and kidnaps him!” Falco spat, punching the wall and startling their amphibian friend.

Slippy kept quiet about the fact that he’d let Andrew out, even though they were sure to find out if they checked the….

“Slippy, do ya want to tell me why in the _hell_ ya let that boy out!?” Peppy shouted.

…Cameras.

“I…I-I…” Slippy stammered.

“Oh nice going, Slippy! Now he and Fox are probably halfway to Venom by now!” Falco spat.

The poor toad cowered away from his two shouting teammates. He truly trusted Andrew, and he believed that Andrew wouldn’t stray too far. Maybe he was just taking a walk to clear his head and Fox followed him to keep him in check? Yeah, that was probably it. “M-maybe he-”

“Come on!” Falco interrupted, running off toward the hangar.

“Falco! Darn it, slow down!” The old rabbit cursed his aging body as he tried to chase down his younger avian teammate. Slippy followed, somehow even slower than Peppy.

Peppy saw Falco already trying to climb into his Arwing. How the bird managed to move so fast, he didn’t even know. “Falco, git yer ass back here! We don’t even know where they are!”

“Well, I ain’t waitin’ to go searching for Fox’s corpse!” Falco shouted back. His words sowed a deep fear in Peppy’s gut. He already lost James, and he didn’t want to loose Fox.

“You hush yer mouth, Falco! We ain’t going nowhere until we find out where they went!” Peppy shouted.

“Guys, look over here!” Slippy’s voice called from just outside the hanger. The two looked over to see the toad had gone outside to inspect a strange pile on the ground next to a can of gasoline.

Peppy walked over with Falco in tow. “What’s this, Slippy? Some kinda clue?” The old hare asked.

“I think so. Look.” Slippy pointed at the pile. The hare realized it was a burnt up pile of clothes.

“The hell? What did that bastard do to Fox!? That sick son of a-!” Falco yelled, but Slippy interrupted him.

“Falco wait! Look!” Slippy tried to pick up something metallic, but quickly drew his hand back when he felt how hot it was.

“Dammit, Slippy, be careful! What are ya lookin’ at?” Peppy asked, looking down at the pile. It was a badge.

“What the?” Falco crouched down and got a closer look. It was a wolf’s head with one of the eyes replaced by a star. There were four distinct claw marks behind the head. Falco’s jaw dropped. “This is Star Wolf’s symbol.”

“And that means…?”

“Let’s check the cameras.” Slippy said, dashing back to the bridge.

“Dammit, Slip, wait up!” Falco called, following him with Peppy trailing behind.

The three pilots gathered around the cameras as Slippy opened up the hangar cameras, rewinding the recording until they saw Andrew. “There.”

“What’s he got there?” Peppy asked.

“Looks like his uniform. But what’s that little box in his hand?” Falco narrowed his eyes at the feed, trying to figure it out.

When Andrew walked out of range, Slippy changed the feed and saw Andrew throwing his uniform out on the Katinan soil, then pouring gasoline all over it. Slippy let out a gasp.

“Is he…?” Falco leaned forward, his eyes wide.

Peppy looked between his two comrades. “What? I don’t understand. What’s the matter with you two?”

“W-well…If he’s putting gas on his uniform…” Slippy began.

“Hey, who’s he talkin’ to?” Falco pointed at the screen.

Slippy pulled up another camera’s feed, showing the two recordings side by side. “Fox!”

“Turn on the audio, turn it on, boy!” Peppy said.

Slippy typed in a command and they listened to the two talk to each other.

_“Take a guess.”_

_“Andrew, you’re not going to…burn it are you?”_

_“I need to do this, Fox. Or else…I’ll never move on. You asked me what I wanted to do after the war…I’m making sure that whatever it is, there’ll be no going back to Venom or Star Wolf…Thank you for showing me the truth, Fox. It’s because of you that…I don’t have any doubts anymore. I know who the enemy is, and I’m never turning back.”_

“Holy shit.” Falco said, finally realizing what the little box in Andrew’s hand was. It was a box of matches. He was really going to burn his own uniform. Enemy or not…That takes guts.

“Did he say anythin’ about this, Slippy?” Peppy asked, just as surprised as Falco. It struck the rabbit with shock, but warmed his heart at the same time.

Slippy shook his head. “He just…said he needed to do something important. I…had no idea this is what he meant.”

_“Goodbye, Uncle Andross. Rot in Hell.”_

The three watched in stunned silence as Andrew tossed a lit match onto the uniform. A treasonous act to his home, but one that instantly earned Falco’s respect.

“He really did it. He really fuckin’ did it.” Falco said. “Heh. Guess the kid’s got a pair after all…”

“But…Where is he now?” Peppy asked.

The only response he got was from the cameras. The three watched as Andrew started crying on Fox’s shoulder, their voices now too quiet for the microphone to pick up. Fox brought an arm around the monkey when he seemed to get upset, calming him down. Peppy had to admit, a certain paternal instinct flared up, the kind you get when you see your son or daughter flirting with a punk or a biker, but he calmed it before he got too upset. The semi-hug seemed to go on for ages, no one daring to speak up.

Slippy had to keep himself from letting out a childish “Awww!” in front of everyone. Falco fidgeted and seemed rather uncomfortable through it. Peppy just kept himself silent and stoic, though the more time passed, the more that paternal instinct dared to lash out.

Finally, the two separated, Fox suggesting they go to the city, then the two of them snuck through the ship and left in casual clothes.

“So they went to the city.” Slippy said.

“What are we waiting for, then? Let’s go find ‘em.” Falco got up and started walking toward the hangar.

“Stop.” Peppy said, using a voice that always stopped the younger men in their tracks. “From the looks of it, they’ll be back. I’ll take care of it. You two just go on to bed.”

“But-”

“Did I stutter? Go.”

“Yes, sir.”

“Y-yes, sir!”

——————

“ _You_ made out with _Wolf_!?”

“Fox, shut up!” Andrew hushed. “That’s for your ears only! Top secret! Got it?” He said, looking around at the people walking past them on the bustling city street. No one really seemed to care, they all had better things to worry about. 

“Yeah, yeah, I got it, but _Wolf_? How did that even happen?” Fox pried curiously.

“He was kinda drunk and I was really touch-starved. On Venom, that’s all you really need to hook up.” Andrew said with a shrug. “That, and dashing good looks like mine.”

Fox snorted, then did a double take. “Wait, hook up? You hooked up with him? Like…Had sex?” He said in a hushed tone, now suddenly very wary of his volume.

“Huh? Well, uh…Yeah. Yeah, hehe, he couldn’t keep his hands off me.” Andrew lied. In actuality, he and Wolf _tried_ to hook up that night, but after they got into bed Wolf wound up being a bit too…big. But he didn’t want Fox to know that. Hell, he didn’t want anyone to know that.

“I don’t know whether to call you lucky or crazy.” Fox said, chuckling.

“Jealous?” Andrew said with a smirk.

“Pfft, as if.” Fox rolled his eyes. “No way in a million years would I ever sleep with Wolf.”

“You’re missing out.” Andrew shrugged.

“I’ll take your word for it.” Fox said.

The two continued on their night out, the hours ticking away as they played their worries away. Their first stop was the theater, where they watched a horror movie that didn’t really frighten either of them. Their second was a shopping mall, where Fox took Andrew to a clothing store where they both tried on different outfits, but wound up not buying any of them. Next, they visited an arcade and played almost every game there, with Andrew surprising Fox by getting a high score on a rhythm game.

Fox stretched after they exited the arcade. “Hnnng, that was fun! I haven’t been to an arcade since my dad and I went to that big one on Corneria before I left for Flight Academy.”

“Your dad went to arcades?” Andrew asked, munching on some candy he won from a crane game.

“Yeah, but he didn’t really start going until I started dragging him there. I think I got him hooked.” Fox said. He smiled, but there was a hint of sadness in it. He looked down. “…I really miss him.”

“…Yeah.” Andrew mumbled. He couldn’t relate to Fox, since almost every family member he had, he hated. Fox seemed to truly love his father, and he could remember how fondly James talked about Fox. He was his only son, and his pride and joy. He’d told Andrew all about it before…Andross killed him. Andrew was forced to witness the whole thing. He could still remember it.

He could still hear James’s final scream.

“I keep telling myself that maybe he’s still out there. Just lost in space, you know?” Fox said. “But I know. He’s really gone.”

Andrew looked away. “Do you…want to know what his last words were?”

Fox lifted his head. “What?”

“I…I was there when Andross killed him.” Andrew said. “If you don’t want to hear it, that’s fine.”

Andrew looked over at his old friend, only to see two sad, teary emerald eyes staring back at him. “…Tell me.”

“Okay.”

The two walked in silence until they found an abandoned playground. Andrew wanted somewhere quiet, somewhere that no one could eavesdrop.

No, that wasn’t quite it. He wanted somewhere that no one could see Fox cry. He knew what he was going to say would hurt, but he also knew that Fox deserved to know.

The two men sat on a rusty swing set, the area darker than the brightly lit city streets. The rest of the playground was empty, their only company being the silly spring rides and the blades of grass and weeds that brushed their feet.

“I…got a chance to talk to him before he died.” Andrew said quietly. “He said a lot…about you.”

Fox listened, not saying a word.

“He told me about how much he wanted to see you again.” Andrew said. “He started going on and on about how much of a good kid you were. He reminisced and just…told me everything and anything.” He could remember how calm James was when he told him these things. How serene his eyes were behind those shades whenever he talked about Fox.

“I told him about…you when we were in the Academy too.” Andrew said. He scraped his feet along the grass. “He wasn’t surprised you were making such good grades. He asked if you had a girlfriend yet, though.” He shrugged. “I told him you didn’t, but you had a bunch of great friends that were better than any girl. He just laughed at me when I said that.”

Andrew looked over at Fox for the first time since they got to the playground. His ears were flat against his head, and his eyes were filled with tears. Even so, there was a somber smile on his face. “That sounds like my dad, alright. He always wanted me to settle down with someone.”

“I could tell.” Andrew let out a small chuckle, one that was shared by Fox.

“Did he say anything else?” Fox asked.

“Yeah. He said that…If I ever saw you again, to give you a message.” Andrew said. Fox’s ears perked up. “He said that…No matter what happens, no matter how the war turns out…Never, ever give up. Don’t let fear overtake you, and trust in your instincts if you can’t trust in your mind. And no matter what…To always remember that he loves you.” Andrew said. “Even if you were screwing around with that Bill boy.”

Fox, who was on the verge of crying, started softly laughing.

“His words, not mine.”

“Don’t worry, I can tell. Shit, I thought we got away with that…” Fox said. The vulpine pilot, who once looked so strong and confident, looked down at the ground in solemn silence.

“Are you alright?” Andrew asked.

Fox sniffed and nodded. “Yeah…Yeah, I am. It’s just…” He wiped his eyes. “I miss him a lot…”

Andrew nodded and looked at the ground, allowing Fox to compose himself.

“His final words…what were they?” Fox asked.

“Those were his final words.” Andrew said. “He didn’t say anything else after that. Not to me, and not to anyone else."

A still quiet fell over the two, Fox processing all that he’d just heard. His father was truly dead, with no doubt. But his final words were a message to Fox. A message to never give up, and that he’ll always love him. Somehow…It made Fox feel less sad.

“…Thank you, Andrew.” Fox said, standing up from the swing.

Andrew stood up with him. “Don’t mention it…You sure you’re alright?”

“I’ll be fine.” Fox said. He stepped closer to Andrew, looking into his eyes.

“Go on.” Andrew said quietly.

“Huh?”

“You look like you wanna say something…Go ahead.” Andrew said. He could see it all over Fox’s face. The vulpine may think no one can tell what he’s thinking, but…One look into those emerald oceans, and Andrew could read him like a book.

“…Never could get past you, huh?” Fox said with a tiny smile. “Alright…Can…Can I hug you?”

Andrew blinked a few times, slightly taken aback by the sudden request for a hug. He thought for a second, but he knew Fox needed comfort right now, just like he needed comfort before. So Andrew nodded and held his arms out awkwardly.

Not a second later, Andrew found himself in Fox’s embrace, his arms locking around his torso. Fox held him tight, tighter than he expected. When Andrew returned the much needed hug, he could feel Fox trembling just a little bit. He could hear Fox’s breath - he’d learned how to keep it calm when he was upset, but Andrew could tell he was having trouble keeping it steady - right in his ear, the sound somehow soothing to him. He was so close that he could smell the cologne Fox was wearing. A familiar scent…in a familiar scene.

Andrew’s thoughts were involuntarily brought back to their kiss. How he’d frozen up and broken his dear friend’s heart. He didn’t know what to feel then, and even now confusion gripped him. His mind started to scramble, just like it did back then.

“…Andrew?”

Fox’s quiet voice settled his mind. Andrew looked up at the glowing moons above Katina, the stars rendered invisible by the city’s blinding lights.

“Yeah?” He replied.

“…Is this…weird?”

“Two grown men hugging in a playground in the middle of the night doesn’t exactly strike me as normal.” Andrew joked, though his voice was just as quiet as Fox’s.

“No, I mean…” Fox paused for a moment. “…Do you remember…that night in the flight simulator?”

He said it. After years of pretending that it never happened…Fox said it. It was so surreal to Andrew. It made him begin to wonder: Did Fox think about that night just as much as Andrew did?

“…Yeah. I do.”

“So…Is this weird…?”

It should have been. Two years since Andrew broke his friend’s heart, the two of them becoming such bitter enemies in the war. It should have been weird. So why wasn’t it? For some reason, right there, right then…Andrew felt safe. He felt like he belonged.

“…No.” Andrew said. “I don’t think it is, anyway.”

“So…Just a little longer?”

Andrew closed his eyes, smiling. “Take as long as you need to, big guy. I ain’t going anywhere.”

——————

“Ugh, you really had to park so far away, huh?” Andrew whined as the two trudged through the Katinan plains.

“Sorry, but there were no docking bays open in the city.” Fox shrugged.

Their secret night of fun was over, but the pair still had to make the return trip to the Great Fox, which was a good twenty minutes of walking from the outskirts of the city.

A cold wind blew by, making Andrew shiver. He kept his eyes on the Great Fox and tried not to think of how cold it had gotten, when he felt something drape over his shoulders. He looked to see that Fox had taken his own jacket off and given it to him.

“F-Fox? You don’t have to do that, it’s not that cold.” Andrew said, the gesture warming his shoulders as well as his red face.

“Andrew, you’re shivering.”

“Well, what about you, huh? Aren’t you cold?”

“Your fur’s not as thick as mine is. You need it more than I do.”

Andrew looked away, wondering if the dark Katinan night was enough to hide his blushing face. Still, he held onto the jacket and pulled it around him. It really was warmer.

When the two finally got back to the Great Fox, they snuck in through the hangar. Fox entered a passcode to get in, then held his finger over his lips before leading Andrew in. The two quietly tiptoed through the ship, Andrew catching a glimpse of a clock. 2:24, it read. Damn, was it already that late?

“Welcome back.”

The bridge’s lights clicked on and the two froze in their tracks. Andrew turned his head and saw Peppy sitting on a desk chair, looking very unwelcoming.

“You two wanna explain to me where ya been?”

Andrew looked at Fox, who looked right back at him with a “We’re Screwed” look.

“I’m waitin’.”

Andrew looked at Peppy and tried to think of a lie or something, but nothing came to mind.

“We, uh…” Fox began. “We went to the city, because…Um…I-I had a craving…?”

Andrew smacked his face.

“A craving? Then why’d ya bring Andrew? Is he having cravings too?”

“Uh…”

“Do you have any idea how worried we’ve all been? There I was, jus’ mindin’ my own business, when Falco comes an’ tells me you gone and disappeared! Then we find out Andrew’s gone missin’, too!” Peppy scolded. His tone made Andrew stiffen up. It reminded him a lot of his father when he got angry…

“Now I’ve already torn into Slippy about lettin’ you out without our permission,” Peppy pointed at Andrew, making him flinch. “An’ now I’m gonna ask you what in the hell you were doin’ that late. Tell the truth, now.”

“I-I-I was burning my uniform, sir!” Andrew answered quickly.

“Now you wanna tell me why that took you five hours to do?”

“It didn’t, sir! Fox…He caught me, and we talked for a bit…Then we went into the city. S-sir!” He added that last “sir” quickly, something his father always got upset about.

“He tellin’ the truth, Fox?” Peppy turned to Fox, who was now standing just as straight as Andrew.

“Yeah, he is, Pep. Look, he was really sad about everything, and I just wanted to cheer him up, so…”

“So you go and give us all a heart attack? Jesus, Fox, ya could’ve just _said_ something!” Peppy said. “But did you? No! You just up and left, leaving us to wonder where the hell ya went! We thought ya got snatched and taken to Venom! Do you even realize how much of a risk you were takin’?”

“It’s a neutral city, Pep!” Fox defended. Which was true, but there was the problem that…

“He could have been seen by a Venomian spy or merc out there!”

Fox looked down, knowing Peppy was right.

The old hare sighed and turned to Andrew. “Alright, listen up.” He said, his tone lighter. “I understand you’ve been through a lot, but yer gonna have to be punished for this. Tomorrow, yer cleaning that cell of yours top to bottom. I wanna see it sparkle, understand?”

Andrew nodded quickly.

“Good. Now come on, let’s get ya settled back in.” He turned to Fox. “And don’t you go nowhere, boy. I ain’t done with you yet.”

——————

Peppy yelled at Fox for a good few minutes after Andrew had gone back to bed. He saw Fox do the walk of shame through the bars, but they smiled at each other as he passed. Fox gave him a little wink before he left.

After he left, the ape realized he still had Fox’s jacket. The ship was more than warm enough, so he took it off. He was going to fold it and give it back later, but he paused. The scent of Fox’s cologne hung in the air. Jeez, how much did he need? It smelled like his jacket was drenched in it.

Andrew looked up at the bars and saw nobody. He listened for any footsteps, but heard none. He looked back down at the jacket. That cologne smelled so familiar, he knew he’d smelled it before. Now that he was alone, he held the fabric up to his nose and took a deep breath, gulping in the scent. It greeted him like an old friend, awakening so many memories. Fox draping his arm over his shoulders when he was being friendly, them doing homework side by side, always a little too close, and even when Fox hugged him with joy after Andrew barely passed a flight test. But one memory stood out above them all.

The kiss.

Andrew took another whiff of the scent, and it was definitely the same cologne he wore that day. He knew that for a fact. That was the last time he’d ever smelled the cologne this close. He remembered little details, like how Fox’s whiskers tickled his face during the kiss and how beautifully soft his fur looked. In fact, he remembered it smelling extra strong that day. Did Fox wear extra cologne and doll himself up just for him? Or was he just imagining it? Come to think of it, Fox’s jacked seemed to be drenched in the stuff…Was he wearing extra cologne today? What did that mean?

Another intake of the scent. His mind began to run wild with fantasies. He saw himself kissing Fox in a loving embrace and wondered what it would feel like. Was Fox a good kisser? Maybe he was sloppy. Andrew would have to make smooth, calculated moves to lead in a kiss if that were the case. But what if he wasn’t? What if he was the best kisser in Lylat? Andrew didn’t know, and that fact burned him. He _wanted_ to know. 

Another intake. And how did those muscles feel? Fox certainly wasn’t as large or intimidating as Wolf, but those biceps always taunted him, tempted him. Were they firm and strong? Or were they soft? And if his arms looked so well-toned, what about his chest? How would it feel to have those strong arms pull him close, to have his head resting on Fox’s chest? Could he hear his heartbeat? Would it be fast? Slow?

Another. He wanted to hear Fox tell him that it’ll be okay again. He wanted to listen to Fox’s beautiful voice tell him sweet nothings while he bathed in the scent of his cologne, surrounded by his strong embrace, one hand gently and soothingly stroking his back, and the other caressing his cheek, only to pull him in for a sweet, lovely kiss.

_FWUMP._

Andrew suddenly pulled himself back to reality, throwing the jacket across the room. His face was hotter than hot, and his heart was beating out of control. _Stop_ , he told himself, _stop thinking about him like that! It’s too late to be wishing for that stuff, he’s already moved on! You know he has! He probably has some cute boyfriend or girlfriend waiting for him on Corneria…Just stop!_ He tried so hard to convince himself it won’t happen, but it was too late.

Andrew had fallen hopelessly in love with Fox.


End file.
